


Into The Heart of Things

by LookUponMyWorksYeMighty (Krasimer)



Series: We Built a Second Home [1]
Category: Gravity Falls, ParaNorman (2012)
Genre: AU, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, I don't write porn so the most there is is heavy petting, If Stancest is not your thing, Ignore the first three chapters, M/M, Or skim because they have important plot, Other, majorly au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-17 19:56:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4679339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/LookUponMyWorksYeMighty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoy this story.</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It started when they were born.

The connection between two boys, both named Stan, is at first obvious. Born a set of twins, they hold each other close as they're delivered to their mother and father, matching screams filling the room when they're pulled apart for the first time. From the moment they take their first breath, everything about them is achingly similar.

Save for this: The brother known as Stanford is born with six fingers on each hand.

In the night, when his brother cries for food, for comfort, for anything besides darkness and uncertainty, each digit is wrapped in his twin's clothing, pulling him closer. They are one split into two, made of the same cloth but sewn differently. The darkness shifts little, their mother coming to rescue them from the fear that grips them both.

She does not pick them up one at a time.

She holds them both, scoops them up in her arms as a single unit, shushes them until their fear subsides and they can coo and gurgle at her once more, satisfied with the care she has given them. She does not separate them, but spares a moment to send up a little glimmer of helpless hope for Stanley: Even at their young age, it is impossible to ignore that he is not as intelligence driven as his brother. They are both brilliant, both amazingly developed for children so young, but Stanley prefers the louder toys, the ones that can be tossed around and played with roughly.

Stanford prefers the letter blocks and the rattles.

When they reach school age, they are separated entirely for the first time in six years. The Principal explains: "Twins are supposed to be taught on their own, if they get a class together, they'll depend on each other too much and the poor teacher who gets them both will have to devote more attention to the pair of them."

The arrangement only lasts a month and a half before every last faculty member gives up, gives in, lets the brothers sit next to each other.

Strangely, Stanford was the more vocal of the two about the arrangement.

Stanley simply refused to sit down, to sit still, until he had his brother at his side once more.

Every school year starts this way, with less time passing before the teachers give in and shift students around so that the twins are together. When asked about it, an eight year old Stanford replies, "We were born together."

"We're gonna stay together." Stanley almost-threatens, the gap in his bottom teeth one of the few differences he has from his brother. It will be another two years before he loses on of his front teeth defending his brother from an older boy, one who will not hesitate to use his superior strength on a child.

Turning eleven brings them a new adventure, Stanford's intelligence still more obvious than his brother's, but Stanley developing into more of a fighter. The boxing lessons had been for the both of them, but only Stanley takes to it like a fish to water.

Middle school is a fissure between them.

Instead of being Stanford and Stanley, they become Ford and Stan. Every thought they'd once shared becomes their own and no one else's, not even the twin they once told everything to. Science fairs are the spotlight that Ford steps into, his intelligence praised now more than ever. The boxing gloves his father once bought him go ignored, hanging uselessly next to the worn ones that belong to his brother.

Instead of being proud of his more physical son, Filbrick switches to encouraging his intellectual.

With the increasingly worried hopes and wishes on her tongue, their mother tends to her free spirit and hopes that his light won't be outshined by his brother.

(She remembers, with a heavy heart weighing her down, the last time she talked to her own twin; she remembers that the last words they had said to each other were biting and nasty, a matching knife in each back.)

Stan smiles when it's raining, smiles when he's hurt, smiles when he wipes blood off of his face because there was yet another boy who made fun of his brother. Ford, as he grows, stops thanking him for each defense. He hides his fingers, ignoring his brother's questions when he asks why he stopped being alright with himself. 

Their first kiss happens when they're fifteen and fumbling, Stan's hands pressed into the hollow of his brother's back, Ford's glasses pushed to the top of his head.

They're not sure who moved first.

Slowly, they pull apart, eyes locking onto different points of the wall, cheeks flushed red but not in embarrassment. There is a wish for more, for a heat that should not, if the world at large is to be believed, be wanted between two men, much less two brothers.

The distance between them that grows after the kiss lasts less than two weeks.

Ford breaks it first, one hand sliding across the back of his brother's neck as he walks past their shared desk, heading towards the bunkbeds. A foot from them, his brain catches up to his body, his eyes wide as he stops in his tracks. Without a word, Stan approaches him, a careful hand reaching towards his brother and pulling him close.

Standing there for a few minutes, hearts slamming against ribcages and threatening to break bones, they cling to each other. 

They sleep in the same bed that night, slow movements and nearly silent words as they press against each other and find a new means of being close. Six fingers wrap around five when they're done, nervous and faintly sweaty, the scent of sex lingering just around the two of them. For the first time in nearly five years, they're matching each other's movements, synchronized and timed perfectly towards each other.

It's their secret, their shared little moments in the darkness.

 

Every ounce of happiness drips away when a mistake is made, however, and they were not free from the influence of jealousy. A night that starts out with anger and overwhelming sadness ends with an anticipated ousting and a realized betrayal.

Filbrick already has the bag packed when he throws his son out into the night.

Stan leaves behind everything he has ever known, drives to the edge of town and sets the last of his hope down in the sand when he waits one last time at their place, their spot, the place they once shared everything. When the sun rises and he wakes up alone, he already knows it was foolish and impossible.

He puts the town at his back and disappears for ten years.

The only things he keeps to remind him of what he lost because of a moment of temper running too high are a couple of photos and an array of stars that Ford had once tied to his rearview mirror. He clutches them to his chest when he sleeps in his car, not enough money made in the daytime to rent a hotel room.

They're wedged into his shoe when he chews his way out of the trunk of a car. 

Ten years pass in a flurry of moments, some more terrifying than others but each one of them dragging along until it's done. The weeks slide together until the pace is changed by the arrival of a postcard that somehow found him at his latest hiding spot.

(His mother had insisted on keeping his address with her, and he had written her every time it had changed.)

He is greeted with violence and anger, the business end of a crossbow pointed at his face: From this range, he thinks almost wistfully, it'd be quick and he would be done. He doesn't tell his brother that it would be a better idea to pull the trigger now, doesn't reveal the damage done to his body or his mind, simply listens when the man starts muttering about something. The something he talks about seems impossibly insane, the giant metal construct looms over them. 

And then the damage is done, there's a fight between them, and then there's no solid ground beneath Ford as he lifts off the ground and vanishes.

The burning pain in his shoulder does nothing to deter him from slamming his fist against the portal, he's had worse in the decade since he last saw his brother. The gnawing ache of ignored hunger isn't difficult to keep ignoring, not until it's been three straight days on top of the original four that he hadn't been able to pay for something to eat. 

He sleeps in his brother's study, refuses to set foot in his bedroom.

(It smells too familiar, even after all the years between them.)

The journal holds part of the blueprints for the machine, a glimmer of hope that he'll be able to set it right, and he sleeps with it over his heart, a hand clenched around the glasses that had dropped to the ground. He studies numbers, physics, math that he had once tossed aside because he had never needed to know it.

He starts a business based in a safer version of the world his brother knew.

(He hides the study away after a while: He's Stanford now, he has to pretend.)

Every day is spent earning money to keep himself going, every night is spent learning the things that had once given his brother an intelligent edge over him. Even with all of what he forces himself to learn, there is still only one journal, with mentions of another two. Every failure is another sleepless night, as if he's paying for it in wide-awake terror.

(He wishes he could stop dreaming. It's too much to be surrounded by his scent and wake up alone, too much to dream of a world where everything went right and he never had to leave.)

Years pass, three decades of age and insomnia slowing him down.

The phone rings one day, the voice of someone who claims to be his nephew asking if it would be alright to send his kids over for the summer. The man on the other end explains that they need a change of scenery: One is too focused on his books, the other is too entangled in boys and other such things. The summer spent in Gravity Falls will be good for them.

He says yes.

He doesn't say that he's been alone for too long, or that he has no idea who he's talking to. He gives directions, says that he'll pick them up when they get into town, and then learns that their names are Dipper and Mabel.

Another set of twins.

When the local kid-psychic goes entirely off the deep end, he discovers the two missing journals.

(Thirty years in the making and his grand-nephew had it for most of the summer. The monster-kid had the other one.)

The first thing (The only thing) he wants to do when he finally drags his brother back through the portal is hug him. The second thing he wants is something he has not been allowed in over forty years, and he ignores how much it makes his heart hurt to realize that he is still not forgiven.

When he sleeps that night, the scar on his shoulder burns once more and the stars that hang above his bed have lost their glitter.

Stanley Pines is dead, he reminds himself. When the summer is over, he goes back to being someone else. There is nothing left for him here, he thinks as he pushes himself back out of bed and pulls out a suitcase from the closet, tossing a few things into it. 

Summer's almost over, it has to be done soon or else he won't go at all.

He writes a note, writes twelve more drafts of it before settling on a final one and pinning it to the wall next to the mirror. He writes another for the kids, setting out a pair of boxing gloves for Mabel and a fresh journal for Dipper, all ready for him to fill in with his own thoughts. He shuffles around in his closet, ignoring his usual suits and going directly for the black jeans and the heavy sweater that he bought in preparation for having to leave once more.

(Forty years of leaving has prepared him for this, if nothing else.)

He slips on the thick wool socks, shoves his feet into the boots hiding beneath the edge of the bed, then grabs his suitcase and slips into the night. His brother's stars still hang on the wall inside. They aren't going with him, they always suited his brother more than him.

He doesn't think that Ford would want him to carry any reminders of him anymore.

The car warms up slowly, and he sends out a silent thanks to whoever might be listening that it doesn't backfire as he starts to drive away.

His eyes are wet as he drives away, but he keeps them on the road and ignores the ache in his heart. Being in love with the one man he could never keep for over sixty years has prepared him for almost everything, and if he has to lose an entire life that was never his in the first place...

When the sun starts to rise, he finds a rest stop and parks there for a while.

He dreams of boats and sunsets, secret kisses shared in the moments no one was looking.

(He pretends that the ache in his chest is just because he's gonna miss the kids.)


	2. Chapter 2

His brother is gone.

He searches the house and he checks on the kids and it doesn't matter because he already knows, there's a different feel to the air when there's one less person. If his time spent travelling the multiverse has proven anything, he knows when there's an extra living being and when there's not.

Stanley has left the house. He knows it before he even looks outside and sees the empty spot where the car should be.

A quick trip to the bedroom his brother has claimed as his own only confirms what he already knows, with the added benefit of a note left behind. There's notes for the younger twins as well, along with things he left for them, and a sinking feeling latches onto him. His brother has left, feeling like he doesn't belong, and it feels like the worst sort of deja vu. 

{Stanley left at night, in the same car he has always driven, with a single bag of his stuff.}

Something on the wall catches his eye and he walks over to it, pulling it delicately off the hook that holds it. It's the spray of stars he had given to his brother when they were kids, less brilliantly colored now but still recognizable.

Ford has to sit down.

One hand covering his mouth, he shakes his head as he traces his thumb over each star. They're worn away in places, each bead dull and plain, the gold replaced by the yellow that had been the base color. He holds onto them like a lifeline, hand clenched so tight that his knuckles turn white. Here, in this room that reminds him so much of his brother, he can't stop himself from remembering how they had been as children.

As much as he'd sometimes like to pretend that everything had been platonic, there is no denying that he has always loved his brother in a way that he shouldn't.

Stan can only be so far away.

Based on when he left, Ford thinks, there is only so much of a distance he could have put between himself and Gravity Falls. He tries not to think about the fact that this is the second town that Stan has put at his back because of something connected to his brother. It's not even six in the morning, he realizes when he looks at the clock. 

As long as he has known Stan, the man has never been able to wake up before eight.

That might have changed since they were younger, but Ford hopes desperately that it hasn't. The kids are still asleep, and he pauses at the door to their room, pressing a hand against the wood and listening for a minute: Coming from inside are the matched, even breaths of a pair of sleeping twins. They aren't Stan and him, they're younger and different and not as attached to each other as their Grunkles once were.

Ford smiles a little as he steps away. 

He leaves a note on the door of the fridge, figuring that he'll let them sleep and when they wake this whole thing may very well be over. His note mentions nothing about the missing member of their family, just says that he'll be back later.

The walk to the Ramiraz household does not take as long as he thought it would.

His knocking is answered by the handyman his brother employs, wiping sleep from his eyes but already dressed and chewing on a muffin. "S'up Mister P- Oh, Mister Pines number two." he frowns, his tired mind chugging along and attempting to figure the situation out. "What's- What's going on?"

"I need your help, Soos." Ford takes a deep breath, "Is it alright if I call you that? My niece and nephew use it freely and my brother does as well."

"Well, yeah, it's kind of my name." Soos smiles at him.

"As I said, I require your assistance. My brother has left, and I want to bring him back before the children wake up." he gestured at himself. "I don't have much to use to find him, however, and he has his car to aid him. I fear that by the time I might catch up to where he is now, he'll have left it far behind and I will be too late."

Soos nods and shoves the last of his muffin into his mouth, grabbing his keys off the table just inside the door. "I'm leaving, abuelita! See you tonight!"

A quiet voice calls out an affirmation of love that he only understands part of, and Soos nudges past him to head to his truck. "C'mon Mister Pines, we'll find Mister Pines and we'll get him back." he nods pulling on his baseball cap as he settles into the driver's seat. "Do you know what you're gonna say to him?" he pops open the passenger door and gestures for Ford to get in.

"What?"

"Well," Soos starts up the truck and starts driving towards the road out of town. "If he ran away because of you coming back and it being your house, then you're gonna- You're gonna need to say something to convince him to stay."

"You're right." Ford presses his palms against his knees, wills his hands to stop shaking. "If we find him, can I ask you to leave me with him?"

"Yeah, you can." Soos takes a turn carefully, humming as he turns the steering wheel. "Want me to go watch over hambone and dipping sauce? I've got to head into work, even if Mister Pines isn't there, and it'd probably be a good idea to have someone with them. They're only twelve, even if they seem older sometimes."

Ford nods, swallowing heavily. 

"It'll be okay." Soos offers. "Mister Pines is pretty smart about things, even if he doesn't always make the best decisions. You seem kind of the same way, so I think that if you explain to him, he'll understand. I mean, you guys is twins, you don't think he'll hate you forever, do you?"

"...I might be afraid of that, actually." he mutters, hands trembling on his knees. 

Soos frowns, glancing over at him but mostly staying focused on the road. "I know you guys fought when you were younger, but do you really think that he'll still be mad about that?"

"Potentially."

"Dude, what it sounds like to me is that you're the one who's still mad about things. Mister Pines does occasionally hold a grudge, but I've yet to see him angry at someone for more than a week." Soos shrugs as he flips on his turn signal around a sharp curve in the road that splits into two. "He can't have changed all that much since he was younger. I was there for the story you guys were telling, I know a bit about what happened. I don't know the whole story, but I don't think I need to know. From what I heard, it sounds like the two of you just need to sit down and talk everything out, just the two of you."

"I suppose we should." Ford clasps his hands together on his knees, fidgeting as he tries to settle into his seat, an unfamiliar feeling tugging at him now. It feels like an instinctual sort of thing, a tug in the right direction.

Science Fiction has invaded his mind.

It is, regrettably, only in the movies that twins know without communicating where the other one is at all times. Even if it were to be real, they've been so at odds as to destroy whatever link might make it even remotely possible.

The next several miles pass in silence, the handyman not even humming as he drives through the darkness that is giving way to light.

A sign for a rest stop makes Ford sit up in his seat, his eyes narrowed on it. "Could you pull over there?" he asks quietly, feeling like he didn't choose the words. "I can't explain it, but-"

"Yus sir!" Soos mock-salutes him and takes the off-ramp for it.

There's a feeling of satisfaction when he sees the familiar shape of his brother's car, the telltale license plate almost gleaming in the darkness that still cloaks the parking lot. The brick building that houses the bathrooms seems somewhat menacing as he steps out of the car, bidding a farewell to Soos and thanking him.

The battered brown truck drives off and he is left with only one option.

He puts a hand on the hood of the car, smiling when he feels no heat coming from it. Stan settled here for the night, probably to get some sleep, and based on how cold the car is, he probably wasn't planning on going any further until he got that sleep.

When he looks through a window, he sees his brother curled up in the backseat.

Gently, he opens the front door and slides into the passenger seat, turning to watch him in his sleep. There's a moment when he feels like a child again, trying to fall asleep by counting his brother's inhales and exhales, but it passes quickly and he reaches over to prod him into wakefulness. "Stan."

His fingers barely touch him before Stan is upright and tensed, ready for a fight if he needs to be. "Who-"

He stops, blinks, then blinks again. "...Ford?"

Ford nods, reaching a hand out to brush Stan's hair out of his face. "Mister Mystery." he greets, swallowing heavily. "I came to bring you back home."

"...Give me a second, I haven't had coffee yet." Stan pulls off his glasses and rubs at his eyes, the grey of his face a little darker than usual. "You what? I left a note, I'm not-"

"I want you there." Ford interrupts, still unsure of the words but saying them anyways. "I ignored you when you left once, I'm not going to do it again. I want you in my life, and I want you in that house, and there are so many things I don't know how to say. Thirty years ago, we- I shouldn't have demanded you back into my life only to throw things like that at you." he takes Stan's glasses in his hand, pulls them from him and buffs the lenses on his sweater, cleaning them off before handing them back. 

It's something Stan used to do for him.

The man stares at him, still trying to wake up enough to understand. "You said it was the only worthwhile thing I'd ever do with my life. You opened the door with a crossbow pointed at my face and demanded to know if I was gonna steal your eyes." 

"I-"

"I almost asked you to shoot me anyways." Stan mutters, still too asleep to filter his words. "I'm still paying for something I did when I was seventeen, I get that. Hell, I understand that completely, I screwed up." he settled his glasses back onto his nose. "It's why I'm here, Ford. History suggests that it's best for me to just get out of your way. Whatever I feel, whatever else happens, it's just best for me to be away from you."

"I want you to come back to the house with me."

"The last time I did something you wanted me to do, I followed it up with doing something stupid and losing you again." Stan shook his head. "Not gonna do that again."

"Stanley."

They stared at each other for a while before Stan sighed and looked away. "I'll give you a ride back into town, but then I'm leaving. Your life has always been better without me in it, even if you don't say the words. I'll drop you off at the Shack, then I'll drive away and you won't ever have to deal with me again. And hey," he smiled a little. "It'll give me a chance to say goodbye to the kids. That should-"

"My first night without you in the room was spent staring at the ceiling." Ford blurts out. "I couldn't hear anything but my own thoughts, and there was just empty air when I put a hand down to where you used to sleep."

"Why-"

"I used to listen to your breathing, mimic it until my brain shut off and I got to sleep too. Even in college, it felt wrong to not have you there. Fiddleford didn't make the same sounds and you were long gone. I thought about trying to find you a couple of times, but when I did try, there was nothing to be found. I had no idea where to look, and so I threw the entirety of my focus into my studies." Ford reaches desperately for his brother's hand, pulls it closer until he can press it against his chest. "And then I had to listen to dad complaining about you every time I talked to him.

"I suppose it just sort of...Stuck. You hear something often enough and it starts to feel true." he bent his head down, pressing the bridge of his nose to the back of Stan's hand. "I knew you better than he did, and I never should have- I never should have said the things I said to you." Ford lets out a small whine, a breathless noise that almost resembles a wounded animal.

Stan shifted, more alert now. "Ford, you were the one who was practically destroyed. I'd think you want me gone."

"No!" Ford leans forward, looking down when the back of his seat bumps against his chest. "Stay right there, don't move." he orders as he slides out of the car, closing the door behind him and switching to the backseat. "I woke up with you gone and I don't want to have to live through that again!" 

He puts a hand on his brother's shoulder, pulls him closer until all he can feel is where they're pressed together and he curls a hand in the thinning grey of Stan's hair. "I wanted you back the very next day, even when I was still angry. I want you back now!"

Stan goes still and silent, allowing the press of his body against Ford's but not moving into it on his own.

Ford lets out a shuddering breath, trying to figure out what to say next. "I am not sounding at all composed, this isn't what I wanted to present to you. I had all sorts of things to say, and then I found you here and they just left my mind." he sobs a little when he says it, dragging Stan even closer until they're chest to chest, his brother's legs tangled with his own in the slightly-cramped backseat of Stan's car. "Please come home with me."

His heart pounds in his chest and he feels like he's a kid again, in the moment after the weeks apart, back when they'd had their first kiss. This is the silence, the same stillness, from when Stanley had gotten up and come over to him after he'd put a hand on the back of his neck. 

There is a gut-wrenching moment of time where Stan stays silent.

"Poindexter..." he mutters, his head turning so he can press his face into the crook of Ford's neck. There's a soft brush of lips against Ford's neck, and then he feels Stan smile. "Gotta say it first."

The bubble of laughter that escapes Ford is uncontrolled. "Got to say what?" he plays dumb, something in his chest releasing slowly, the tension unwinding as one of Stan's hands cradles the back of his skull. It's a game they played when they were younger, and he knows exactly where this is going.

"Say it, ya goober." Stan grumbles, nipping gently at Ford's neck. 

Ford let's his body go lax, laughs when Stan squawks in surprise. "Say what?" he asks again, shaking with laughter as he's nearly squashed under his brother's weight. "What is it you want me to say?"

Stan groans and nuzzles against his chest, propping his chin on one hand as he meets his brother's eyes. "I don't want to say it first." he should look ridiculous, a grown and greying man posing like he did in his teens, laying on top of his brother. 

It only makes a burst of fondness flow through Ford.

Pushing himself slightly upright, just enough to press their faces closer, Ford whispers, "I love you and you know it."

"There it is!" Stan says triumphantly, then hesitates and leans in, pausing just long enough to let Ford back away. When he doesn't, Stan presses their lips together, one hand curling around Ford's hip while the other slides into his hair. Their poses are mimicking each other now, and they still fit together in the same way that they always did. 

"So," Ford says in between kisses, moving his hand to Stan's shoulders. "I want you to," he groans into the next one, feeling the surge of blood rush down to his crotch. "Come,"

"I can do that," Stan mutters, wincing when their glasses clack together before he pulls them both off and sets them on the window area behind the backseat. "Should probably find a real bed though, not as young as I used to be."

A breath that tries to be exasperated but mostly sounds love-drunk comes out of Ford's mouth. "Home, Stanley. I want you to come home with me." he hisses when Stan's hand finds it's way to his ass. "Although the other one would be good too." there's a moment when he thinks that Stan hasn't heard him, but then his brother stops for a second and raises an eyebrow at him. "I want to share a bed with you again, share a life with you again. I don't want you gone. I never actually have wanted that."

"You keep saying that." Stan sounds breathless, his cheeks flushed and his eyes nearly black. "How about we head back to the shack and head up to my bed, then talk about things there?" he takes a deep breath, like he's trying to catch up, then nods. "We're gonna go home, we're gonna figure things out, and we're going to do this together."

Ford tugs him back in for another kiss, nearly smashing their noses together in his haste. "Yes." he groans, certain that he looks just as rumpled as his brother. 

Pulling back again, Stan nods once more, sitting up entirely and studying his brother like he's a feast set out just for him. "And then we're gonna go to bed and I am going to figure out how two grumpy old guys are supposed to do things." he holds out a hand to help Ford sit up, then pops the door open and steps out of the car, stretching in the early morning light. "C'mon sixer, front seat time. Gotta drive back like actual adults so that we don't get pulled over, and if you're back there and lying down we aren't gonna get much of anywhere."

Feeling his face go bright red, Ford nods and practically jumps out of the car, settling himself in the front seat before sighing and leaning into the backseat to grab both pairs of glasses from the window area.

Wordlessly grinning, he hands the correct pair to his brother when he gets back into the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this story.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s still quiet at the Mystery Shack when Stan pulls into the driveway, glancing up at the windows that lead into the twin’s room. 

“The things you left out for them…” Ford finally managed to ask, grabbing his brother by the hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. “You should give them to the kids in person. I know that Mabel would be giddy to receive any gift from you, and Dipper would likely benefit from a little bit of a connection to you.”

“The kid practically worships the ground you walk on.” Stan shrugs as he gets out of the car, locking his door and slowly swinging it shut before heading towards the trunk and pulling out his suitcase. “He doesn’t need two old men to talk to, he has the one who acts more like him to confide in.” suitcase in hand, he walks all the way around the car to Ford’s side. “Besides, he doesn’t really like me all that much anyways.”

Stan nearly shrieked as Ford pushed him up against the side of the car, hands fisted in the fabric of his sweater. His own hands flailing as he was lifted slightly off his feet, Stan almost swallowed his tongue as his brother kissed him again. “Every self-disparaging remark is going to be met with an act of affection.” Ford muttered, smoothing out the front of Stan’s sweater and pulling away.

“Act of-” Stan laughed, curling a hand around the back of Ford’s head and pulling him closer. “Nerd.” he whispered, nuzzling their cheeks together. “Alright, if it means so much to you, I’ll talk to the kid.”

“It would probably mean a lot to him too.” Ford grumbled as he linked their hands together, leading the way back into the house. “Do it for the both of us, do it for the both of them. This family has had enough loss and damage done from within, especially when it comes to us. We need to be the end of it, or we’re going to lose everything.”

Before Stan could say anything to that, the front door slammed open, allowing a purple blur to come zipping out.

The blur nearly knocked Stan down as it latched around his waist, revealing itself to be a tear-stained Mabel, her arms wrapped tightly around her Grunkle. “Grunkle Stan!” she sobbed out, hiding her face in the fabric of his sweater. Her small shoulders shook as she cried, a patch of wetness forming on his side as she held onto him. “We woke up because Soos came and knocked on the door and we didn’t know where you were and Dipper knocked on your door and it opened and there were notes and things for us and we couldn’t find Grunkle Ford and he’d left a note too!”

Glancing at the porch, Stan saw Dipper standing there, a mixture of anger and fear shifting across his face as he stared back. 

One of his hands was clenched around a piece of paper.

Stan sighed. “Kid, come here.” he waved Dipper over, waiting until he was close enough to grab. When he had both of them in his arms, he crouched down until he was on the same level as them. “Look, we all know your old Grunkle has some issues, alright?”

“But you were leaving!” Mabel’s words were half hysterical.

“And Grunkle Ford has explained why I shouldn’t.” Stan assured her. “It might still be a little weird in my head, but I promise that I’m not going to leave again, alright?” he pulled Mabel into a hug, then offered his other arm to Dipper. The boy considered it for a minute, then nodded and hugged both of them. “So…What did you think of the things I left for the two of you?”

Mabel, seeming to decide that he was telling the truth, pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, her metal-filled mouth twisted into a large grin. “I love them!” she laughed. “Is this a hint? Do I need to take boxing lessons? I should take boxing lessons! Dipper, let’s take boxing lessons!”

“What- Mabel, I’m not going to take boxing lessons.” Dipper made a face at his sister before reaching out and tugging gently on the messy wave of hair that lay on her shoulder. “Besides, he only left out one pair of gloves.”

“…Ooh!” Mabel turned back to Stan. “It’s just for me? Neat!”

She pulled away from the hug entirely, racing back towards the front door and disappearing just inside it, reappearing a moment later with the gloves in her hands. “I WILL BE A CHAMPION!” she shouted, holding them above her head victoriously. A couple of birds flew from a nearby tree, startled by her volume.

Dipper turned to join her, hesitating as Stan stood back up and brushed himself off. “…The journal is really nice.” he muttered, a small smile on his face as he rubbed at his bandaged elbow. “Thanks.”

It was followed by a quick hug, a moment of small arms wrapped around Stan’s waist, and then Dipper was running to meet up with his sister, carefully prying his new journal out of her hands before she ran off with it in an attempt to keep him with her. The both of them stood on the porch for a moment before Soos popped his head out the door and said something that drew them back inside.

“They’ll be okay.” Stan smiled, turning to face his brother. “What about us?”

Ford offered him a hand, tangling their fingers together. “We’re going to fight a lot, we’re going to continually make up, and then we’re going to figure out how to live with each other again after over four decades of fucking it up.” he kissed Stan’s knuckles before leaning in to plant a much gentler kiss on his lips. “And I’m not quite sure how we’ll accomplish this, but I have an idea.”

“What idea is that?” Stan kept their hands together as he grabbed his bag and started walking back inside. “Because you said that the Mystery Shack was closing and that’s how the bills have been paid for thirty years.”

Sighing and rolling his eyes with a smile, Ford grumbled something. “Let me get to some paper and pencils before I announce anything, alright? The idea I have requires a lot of planning.”

“Yeesh, you’re going to do the overcomplicated list-and-schematic thing again, aren’t you?”

“They’re not overcomplicated!” Ford defended weakly, his cheeks flushed. “Stanley, did you leave my bank account alone?”

“…Not really.”

“Stanley!”

Stan paused on the steps, raising an eyebrow at his brother. “Depositing a hundred bucks every month to prepare for you coming back isn’t leaving it alone.” he made a face. “Other than that, I didn’t want to deal with it. From some of the papers I found when I started cleaning up the place to hide both of our secrets, your grant money was in there and I didn’t want to touch it.” he looked down at their still connected hands. “Why do you ask?”

Letting out a small huff of laughter, Ford shook his head fondly. “How is it that you- You’re a lot different than you used to be, even though I can still pinpoint every bit of you that I remember.”

“I spent thirty years acting like you, Poindexter.” Stan shrugged, rubbing his thumb along the back of his brother’s hand. “Figures that some of it would rub off and stick. Still makes me feel a little weird sometimes, like I’m gonna turn into some kind of nerd or somethin’.”

Ford grinned, an almost evil edge to it. “You’re not a nerd already? You figured out a complicated physics and paranormal science portal to a multiverse alternate dimension route with one third of the instructions you needed and no outside help except for the textbooks you picked up on your own and taught yourself from.” he nudged his glasses back up his nose with the tip of his finger. “I’m afraid, Stanley, that you’re already a nerd. And your second most important secret is out to everyone who witnessed these events: You’re just as smart as me.”

“Ugh, no!” Stan laughed, then shook his hand free and tossed it into the air. He turned to go inside, pausing on the threshold. “You comin’?”

“Yes,” Ford glanced over his shoulder, studying the trees that surrounded them carefully for a second. “I’m coming.”

 

That night, after the kids had been put to bed and the lights of the household dimmed, Ford was sitting at the desk of his brother’s appropriated office, almost up to his elbows in blueprints and papers.

A soft knock on the door grabbed his attention, bringing his gaze to Stan.

“You gonna stay in here all night?” he asked, an eyebrow quirked upwards as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. A small frown twisted his lips as he noticed what Ford had been working on. “What’s all this?”

“This…” Ford shrugged, then tugged a completed line drawing of a building from the piles. “This is my idea. I know I said that I wanted the Mystery Shack to be done and for my house to be mine again, but…” he sighed, rubbing at his chin with his other hand as he held the paper out to his twin. “I want you to stay here with me. I’ve done and said some things, and we still need to work a lot out, but I do not want to lose you again, Stanley.”

Stan walked further into the room, taking the paper and looking over it. 

Drawn in the confident lines that all of Ford’s drawings shared was a building labeled ‘Mystery Shack #2’ in white lettering, a small note next to it pondering about how much space it might need. “This is-”

“Plans to create a new Mystery Shack.” Ford pushed himself out of the chair he sat in, stretching his back. “I suppose it’s- It’s an apology, in some way. I’ve had time to acclimatize myself back to this dimension, and I’ve thought over what I last said and what I last did and honestly, the only thing I’m amazed by is how long it took you to react to how I was treating you.” he clenched his hands into fists, focusing intently on a spot on the floor. “I acted like-”

“Ford,”

“Our _father_.” he hissed, looking utterly disgusted with himself. “I had my head on wrong when he kicked you out in the first place and I did nothing to defend you! I am actually amazed that you didn’t leave me on the other side of the portal for the rest of our natural lives…”

With nothing more than a raised eyebrow, Stan placed both hands on his brother’s face, stopping his self-hatred in it’s tracks. “C'mon Sixer, I’m gonna leave the only man I’ve ever-” he cleared his throat, an embarrassed flush staining his cheeks. “The _ **only**_ one.” he nodded for emphasis. “Alone and in a different world? Like that’s gonna happen. Even if you had been the one tossing me out the door yourself…You could stick a knife in my back and I’d probably still come to your side.”

Ford didn’t say anything, his eyes going watery as he wrapped his hands around Stan’s wrists. 

“Because there ain’t nothin’ that’ll keep me from getting back to your side.” Stan continued, shaking his brother gently, just once. “S'where I belong.” he pressed their foreheads together, smiling as their glasses clinked. 

“We’re- If you want, I’ll arrange for that second shack to be built, and you can keep running your business.” Ford whispered, hands shaking as he fumbled over his words. With a deep breath through his nose, he steadied a little, nodding just once before smoothing his hands over his brother’s chest. Stan wore an undershirt and boxers now, soft pieces of fabric that practically crinkled under his grip. “And you and I-”

“I think the phrase is 'Pick up where we left off’,” Stan interrupted, leaning closer until he could nudge his nose against Ford’s. He hovered over the other’s lips, simply studying his face, one hand sliding down to wrap around his brother’s waist. 

His fingers hooked around his hip, his thumb resting in the hollow of the bone and the other four digging into the meaty part of it. 

Ford let out a breathy sigh, his entire body relaxing as Stan’s hands wrapped around him. “That’s about where I was going with that.” he muttered, one hand going to the back of Stan’s neck and pulling him even closer, each breath a shared thing now. Slowly backing him towards a wall, Ford smirked when Stan groaned, taking pity on him by slipping his other hand down the loose boxers he wore. “You said something earlier about a bed and figuring things out.”

“Yeah,” Stan grunted, hips arching into the six-fingered grip that held him. “I did.”

“I think this is where we start with the figuring things out part.” Ford nuzzled against his cheek for a second, then pressed a kiss to his neck. A trail of kisses followed, charting a path towards Stan’s chin, then up and landing on his lips. “We build- Ah!”

Stan nearly cackled, the sound dissolving into a moan when Ford retaliated, as his hand rubbed over the front of Ford’s pants again. 

“As I was saying,” Ford kissed him firmly, tightening his grip. “We build a second home and we figure out where everything goes inside of it.”

“As long as you’re okay with the hokey tourist trap being next to the real supernatural.” Stan dropped both of his hands to rest on Ford’s ass, squeezing firmly. “We’re probably gonna fight about where stuff goes, aren’t we?”

“Definitely.” Ford pressed even closer to him, gasping quietly when one of Stan’s thighs nudged in between his own. 

Stan shrugged, then pushed his brother back and took his hand, heading for the stairs at a quick pace. “As long as we stay away from your lab when we do, it should be okay. I don’t think either of us needs for any of that to happen again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the basis for this entire AU! I hope you enjoy this story.


	4. Into The Heart of Things

Falling was, Mabel decided as the air rushed past her and whipped her hair up and over one shoulder, kind of like flying. 

Falling through the air, untethered and without a safety net wasn’t something new to her, she and her brother had done that weirdly a lot during their times in Gravity Falls. What was new was the person clinging to her, an arm wrapped awkwardly around her stomach and a swathe of brilliantly blonde hair flying up past her face, the scent of wealth rolling off the other girl and almost directly into her nose. She understood, however distantly, that Pacifica was screaming, and she moved her arm slowly around her shoulders, pulling her in closer as the ground rushed towards them.

Thankful for the day her Grunkle had let her take it as her own, she pulled the grappling hook from the belt she wore, firing it at the side of the cliff.

With a dull thud, it connected, the cord snapping taut as they slowed down, swinging quickly from side to side until they balanced out. Her arm was sore now, but that was better than splattering across the floor of the forest in a mess of blood and broken bones. “Pacifica?” she jostled her slightly, taking a deep breath when she could. “Are you okay?”

“What-” Pacifica sobbed, her eyes wide as she looked up at Mabel, her arms wrapped around the female Pines’s waist tight enough to hurt. “What just happened? That boy was talking to Dipper and then he- He pushed us!”

“I don’t know.” Mabel wrapped her arm back around Pacifica and looked down, past the shivering girl and towards the ground. “We’re only like fifteen feet up, do you think you can land safely in the tree if I swing over there?" 

"I- I can try.” Pacifica swallowed nervously, her hands shaking where they clasped together behind Mabel’s back. “How are you even holding us up like this?”

Mabel grinned as she started swinging again, her feet occasionally brushing the side of the cliff. “A couple of summers ago, after Dipper and I left for the first time, I started taking a bunch of classes. A lot of them were art- I wanted to learn to be even better than the already amazing level I’m at -But some of them were ones that helped me get stronger. My Grunkle took boxing when he was little and- ” here she cut herself off as she brushed over the top of the tree, missing on the first try. “-I took it too. I figured if we were gonna be doing this sort of thing, then I should be prepared for it. Dipper isn’t exactly muscley and amazingly strong, y'know?”

On the second pass, she managed to deposit Pacifica in the upper branches, pausing against the side of the cliff to make sure that the other girl landed alright. “You okay?”

“Yes!” the rich girl called out, the branches shifting as she started to make her way down to the ground. “You got stronger. That’s- That’s good.” her head popped out of the foliage, her eyes still wide as she stared up at Mabel. “Tell me more about it when we’re on solid ground again, alright?”

“Ah-kay!” Mabel called out, her hair swinging in the wind as she started swinging again, launching herself at the tree as she tugged the grappling hook free. 

Together, they made short work of the climb down, Mabel landing first and reaching up to help Pacifica dislodge herself from the tree. “I also started taking some tumbling and parkour classes. I didn’t really know what would be useful, but my parents offered and let me choose.”

“That’s good too.” Pacifica bent over, one hand over her heart and the other braced on her knees. “We just fell about sixty feet because that boy pushed us over the edge of a cliff!”

Mabel shrugged, kneeling down to look up into the other girl’s face. “Hey, we’re okay.”

“HE PUSHED US OFF A CLIFF!” Pacifica shrieked, gesturing towards the formation of land. “Who even is he, I’ve never seen him around before and he seems like the sort of person I would remember, especially if he’s hanging around you two!”

“His name is Norman!” Mabel interrupted her panic, a smile on her face as she took Pacifica’s hands in her own. “And I think there might be something wrong with him.”

Both girls sat quietly for a minute as they looked at each other, Pacifica processing slowly. Mabel’s smile morphed into a grin, one of her hands tangling in the end of her ponytail. “At least we know he’s not made of gnomes.”

A burst of laughter left them, quieting down as they both looked back up the cliffside. “I hope Dipper is alright.” Pacifica whispered, clutching Mabel’s hand tightly.

“I hope so too.”

 

**_Earlier:_ **

 

The door to the gift shop opened, the bell chiming quietly, and both of the younger Pines twins looked up.

Walking through was what seemed to be a boy about their age and his sister, a girl wearing all pink and sporting a blonde ponytail. She popped a bubble between her lips, the gum disappearing back into her mouth as she whispered something to her brother, who tucked himself deeper into his hoodie and shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were pinned to the floor, a small smile on his lips as he listened to her. When she put a hand on his back and tugged him against her side for a second, ruffling his spiked-up hair, he laughed quietly and leaned into the small hug she offered. 

Dipper, where he stood behind the counter, stared.

“Hey bro-bro, what'cha lookin’ at?” Mabel asked, managing to be quiet for once as she leaned into her brother’s space, following his line of sight. “Oh, he’s cute!” she giggled, leaning over the counter and splaying partially across it. “Ooh, should I try to ask him out? I mean, I’ve definitely asked guys out with less- Dipper?” she pulled back, a worried expression on her face as she watched her brother. 

His cheeks were pinked, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but at the other boy, only for his eyes to trail back a few seconds later. “I’m fine, Mabel.”

“Dipper, I haven’t seen you this quiet since you were- Wendy.” Mabel grinned, then nodded once, squeezing her cheeks as she giggled almost maniacally. “I haven’t seen you like this since you first figured out you had a crush on Wendy!” she hissed the words happily, almost falling over when he slapped a hand over her face. “So tell me!” she whispered after she got his hand removed.

“…His name is Norman, and he and his family are in town for a couple of weeks. His sister’s name is Courtney, and she’s about Wendy’s age, actually.” Dipper shrugged half-heartedly, his cheeks growing pinker with every word. “They come in here every few days because Norman likes the absurdity of it.” he swallowed, then nodded once. “Those are his words, anyways. I’ve talked to him a couple of times, and he’s always, when he comes in, in here around two in the afternoon.”

Mabel calmed down a little, nudging her brother a little ways off of his chair so that she could perch on the other edge of it. “You sound like you want to know more about him. Do you know more about him? Do you want me to find out?”

“Mabel!” Dipper grabbed her hand as she started to move off the chair a few seconds after she settled on it. “Don’t.”

“What’s his last name?”

“Babcock.” Dipper grumbled, eyes moving around the room until they settled back on the other boy. “And just when I thought I’d figured these things out…” he pushed one hand into the mess of curls on the back of his head, the ones that stuck out from underneath his hat. “At least I got over the Wendy thing quickly enough. If I wait, this will go away too.”

Frowning at her brother, she looked back at the boy currently looking excitedly through the container of monster-related keychains. “Why do you want it to go away?”

“Because he won’t like me back.” Dipper watched as Norman picked up a zombie pen and sighed. “I know he won’t, just like Wendy didn’t. And to be fair, I was being kind of creepy with the Wendy-thing. And I think I’m being creepy now- Oh no, he’s coming over!” he went stiff as Norman headed towards them, still talking to his sister, a pen in his hand. He tried to escape, nearly managed to dodge around Mabel and head for the employee’s only door, but his sister nudged him back into the chair and skipped away. 

“Gotta have someone on the register at all times, Dipdip!” she laughed.

Before he could glare at her retreating back, Dipper was forced to face Norman and smiled. “Did you find everything alright?”

“Oh, yeah.” Norman set the pen on the counter, blue eyes cheerful as he looked at Dipper. “I kind of knew where everything was already, so it was pretty easy. I mean- You can only go somewhere so many times before you start to memorize it, right?”

“R-right!” Dipper laughed awkwardly, ringing up the pen and smiling crookedly at the boy. “Enjoy!” he practically shoved the pen into a bag and towards Norman’s face, taking the money he offered and giving him the change. “I m-mean, obviously you’re going to enjoy it, you picked it out and you’re probably going to use it! Heh, yeah!” he bit the inside of his lip, trying to stop the flow of words, but it didn’t seem to help. “The girl who was here was my sister, Mabel.”

Raising an eyebrow, Norman let out a huff of air, a small bit of laughter. “I kind of figured, especially since she looked like you. You mentioned a twin a couple of days ago.”

“I did!” Dipper nodded. “…I did?”

“Yeah.” Norman smiled, tucking his purchase into the pocket of his sweatshirt along with his hands. Despite the heat, he’d worn it every time Dipper had seen him, his skin always pale and a couple of layers of clothing sticking out from under it. “You said something about her being obsessed with glitter, and you brought her up because I mentioned a friend of mine who liked bright colors and sparkly things.”

“O-oh, Neil, right?” Dipper curled himself up into the chair, crossing his legs and settling his elbows on his knees. “You were telling me a bit about him. He sounds nice.”

“He is.”

They sat there quietly for a second, Norman’s eyes flicking over to a spot just behind Dipper’s shoulder, Dipper’s eyes fixed on his hands as he swiped at a speck of dust on the counter. 

When they spoke again, it was at the same time. 

“Did you know-”

“Do you want-”

Norman laughed, his face crinkling up, one eye closing as he tried to get himself under control. “Sorry, sorry.”

“What were you asking me if I knew about?” Dipper laughed nervously, unable to help it as he looked at the spot on the wall that he thought Norman had been looking at. As he looked back, Norman dragged his eyes away from it as well, a guilty smile on his face. “Is there something back there?”

The other boy swallowed, his entire face going sort of slack as he turned to find his sister. She stood at the wall of shirts for sale, looking over in a way that made it obvious she had been watching the entire time. “…It’s going to sound really weird.” he muttered, facing Dipper again. His entire posture had changed, like he was trying to hide in plain view. “And you’re probably not going to believe me.”

Each word dragged at Dipper, instantly putting him on alert as he thought of when he had said something similar to various members of his family. “Tell me.”

“He says his name is Tyrone, and he looks kind of exactly like you.” Norman shrugged, eyes pinned to the floor now. “There’s a hole in his stomach, and he’s floating just above and behind you. You’re nice to talk to, but he- It seemed like you didn’t know he was there, so I kept coming back in, hoping that you would eventually notice him if I stuck around long enough, I’m sorry!”

He flinched.

It was the flinch of a kid who got bullied a lot, and it made Dipper angry. A few possibly responses went through his head, and he finally settled on one of them. “He was a clone, made on a machine my great-uncle had in his office.” he explained quietly. Looking around the shop, he nodded once before hopping off of his chair, nearly falling over as one of his legs cramped. “Ah, ooh…” he hissed, hands grabbing the counter as he finally stood on the same level as Norman. “He died because he drank some soda, paper clones don’t tend to hold up really well under liquid.”

“So he’s not a third member of a group of triplets?” Norman asked, one hand out in a vaguely helpful way.

“Nope.” Dipper grinned, then pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to lock up the gift shop and we’re going to go outside and talk. Possibly also get some food from the house and walk through the woods while I explain a few things about Gravity Falls. It’s a weirder town than you would think.”

“I’m from Blithe Hollow.” Norman smiled, a lot calmer this time. “Trust me when I say that things there aren’t exactly normal either.”

He walked over to his sister and said something to her, gesturing towards the door. When she nodded and headed out, he waited for Dipper to gather together a few things before the two of them followed. “I feel like I’ve heard of Blithe Hollow before…” Dipper muttered, locking the door behind them. “What happened there?”

“Zombies.” Norman said, nodding once. “And a witch-ghost who turned out to be my great-great-great-great-something-or-other-Aunt. She was put to death for witchcraft, but she just had powers and people were scared of them.”

Dipper pocketed his keys again, heading across the clearing that had been created between the Mystery Shack and the original house that had been built. “Do you have powers too?” he asked quietly, patting almost affectionately at the railing on the porch as he passed it. His eyes were fixed sideways, on the other boy, but his steps were sure and steady. “Gravity Falls has had it’s share of people with weird powers, there was this kid named Gideon who posed as a psychic and he had this amulet and- Sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s cool.”

“Isn’t that part of why we’re going on the big nature walk?” Norman raised an eyebrow at him, a smile pulling at his lips. “And yeah, sometimes things go weird with me. I mean, I grew up seeing ghosts, and I had to talk down one that had almost gone completely revenge-crazy, and I helped a group of zombies finally rest.”

“…Aren’t zombies just out for brains?”

Norman shrugged. “Not the ones I had to deal with.”

Having paused with his hand on the door, Dipper’s eyebrows rose. “Weird. The ones I had to fight tried to eat me and my sister, and my grunkle fought them off. Did you know that there’s a type of zombie where the head can be exploded by a three part harmony?” he walked inside, waving Norman to follow him. “Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! Are you here?”

An odd noise followed the question, something that sounded human shrieked, and then there were footsteps on stairs and the vending machine pulled away from the wall, revealing a man in a red sweater and black pants. 

Blinking a couple of times, Norman tilted his head as he stared between the two before looking behind the man. “Uh.” he started, eyes wide. “What?”

“Grunkle Ford, this is Norman.” Dipper hesitated, then put a hand on Norman’s shoulder. “He was in Blithe Hollow when everything happened there. We’re going to go on a walk and talk about various encounters with the paranormal and I just wanted to let someone know.” he scuffed one of his shoes on the floor. “You set that rule in place so that we’re not going off randomly and potentially dying, remember?”

Ford nodded slowly, watching Norman curiously. “I’ve read reports on what happened there, it sounds like it was somewhat terrifying.”

“It was." 

The older man nodded again, then pulled something out of a holder on the back of the vending-machine-wall, handing it to Dipper with a small smile. "If you’re going out into the woods, this will be the most relevant of the journals.” he advised, ruffling his grand-nephew’s hair before walking around the two of them, humming something as he clasped his hands together behind his back. Faintly realizing that the man had six fingers on each hand, Norman turned back to Dipper.

“…What?” he finally managed to say, his eyes wide. “Who-”

“That’s one of my great-uncles.” Dipper began, motioning for Norman to follow him, walking towards the kitchen. “Grunkle Stan should be around here somewhere, it’s time for lunch-break, and he doesn’t do Mystery Tours during this time. I should probably warn you that twins run in our family though…”

“Wait, so there’s two of them?”

“They act really different, it’s not as shocking as it seems at first. Besides, me and my sister are twins too…I already said that. Twice now.” Dipper grinned as he opened the fridge and started pulling things out. A snuffling noise sounded from the area next to them and Norman looked down quickly, trying to find the source of it. “That’s just Waddles, don’t worry. He’s a pig that Mabel adopted a couple of years ago.”

“Huh.” Norman kneeled down, offering a hand for the creature to sniff, then laughed when Waddles nuzzled into it. “He’s kind of nice.”

“He can be, yeah.” Dipper grinned as he piled what he had pulled from the fridge on the counter. “Can I leave you here for like three seconds to go grab a bag to put this stuff in? I only need to run upstairs, I’ll be back.”

Norman nodded, settling on the floor next to Waddles. “I’ll just be right here.”

 

 

Upstairs, Dipper sped into the room he shared with Mabel, pushing aside the divider they had and panicking a little. “He’s in the house.”

“Dipper?”

“Norman! He’s in the house because we’re going to talk about supernatural phenomenon and paranormal activities and he was just coming in because of the ghost of one of the clones!” Dipper tugged at the edge of his vest, eyes wide as he tried to breathe normally. “And I don’t want to go with him alone because this needs to be just potentially-friends, so can you come with us? Please?”

Considering her twin for a moment, Mabel nodded, sliding off her bed and pulling on her shoes. “Okay." 

When she stood next to him, she put a hand on his shoulder. "You do need to calm down a little bit, Dipper. If you just act nice and stay friendly, it won’t be that big a deal. You won’t run him off, you won’t freak him out, and you aren’t going to lose a friendship if you just stay calm.” she smiled when he nodded, pressing the tips of both of her index fingers into his cheeks. “Bwap!”

He managed to smile at her, then grabbed a bag from his side of the room, brushing off some stray glitter. “We’re going to walk around the woods, and I’m going to talk to him about monsters and stuff.”

“And it’s not going to be the end of the world if you flirt a little.” Mabel added, pulling on a sweater. “You never know, he could be into that.”

“Guys are a lot harder to flirt with if you’re a guy too, Mabel. It’s not like the crushes you used to be so much about.” Dipper slung the bag over his shoulder as he started back down the stairs, his eyes going wide when he heard Stan’s voice coming from the kitchen. “Uh…” he whispered, coming to a halt and nearly tripping his sister up. “What-”

Mabel sighed, pressing her hands against his back and nudging him forward. “First hint for flirting with guys, Dipper: When your family corners them in an unfamiliar situation, go to their rescue.”

He rushed down the rest of the stairs, skidding around the corner to the kitchen. “Norman?”

Stan turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow as he stepped to one side to allow a view of the teenage boy still sitting on the floor next to Mabel’s pig. “This kid anything like the last one called Norman?” he popped open his can of soda, taking a swig as he pulled his fez off to set it on the counter. “Because I’ve heard the story and let me tell you, I don’t want to deal with the gnomes. Not after what I’ve heard of them from both of you two and from Poindexter.”

“He’s not made of gnomes, I know the signs and-”

“Wait, made of gnomes?” Norman’s face lit up, his eyebrows rising to almost meet his hairline. “You had to deal with gnomes?

Dipper smiled back, pulling the bag off of his shoulder and shoving food into it with a shrug. "Yeah, they wanted to make Mabel their queen. We might be able to walk a little ways into their territory without actually coming across any of them up close and personal.”

“You got a journal, right?” Stan leaned against the counter, bracing one hand on the edge. 

Pulling the journal out from where he had tucked it inside his vest, Dipper nodded. “Number three today, Grunkle Ford said that it was the best one to have when wandering around the woods. As long as we avoid the caves and the darker parts of the woods, we should be okay.” he offered a hand to Norman, helping him to his feet. “Besides, we should probably stay away from those places anyway. Grunkle Ford said that he was going to do some field research today, and I don’t want to risk running across him and scaring something off. Or making it mad.”

“Get home in one piece, alright? I don’t wanna have ta tell your parents that something happened to you.” Stan leaned forward and rubbed his knuckles against Dipper’s hat, grinning when he batted away his hand.

“They’ll be fine!” Mabel assured him, wrapping her arms around him for a second. “I’m going with them, and I’ve got my grappling hook!” she rested her head against his chest, then nodded and pulled away, grabbing a sandwich from the fridge. “And I also have to go grab Pacifica, she wants to see some more of the woods today.”

Dipper rolled his eyes but still nodded at his twin.

 

Norman waited until they were outside to say something, and when he did, he said it cautiously. “Your family seems better than mine about everything that goes on around them." 

"What do you mean?”

“I mean- My mom and dad had to actually see me falling off the tallest part of a building because a ghost attacked me to realize that I was telling the truth.” Norman dug his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt, shoulders rising as he looked at the ground. “It took me nearly dying to get them to understand.”

“Wait, what?” Dipper stopped in his tracks, turning to face the other boy. “You nearly died? How? Did it- I mean, obviously it had to hurt, but how did you nearly die?”

One of Norman’s hands moved to press against his own chest. “Aggie controlled lightning, and she was angry because people had been making her sleep for centuries when she didn’t want to. It probably didn’t help that the entire town had decided to make her into a spooky story to tell to children and make them think she’d get them if they didn’t behave. She was turned into a funny prop to sell stuff, and she was already angry because of what had been done to her.”

“…I’d probably be angry too.” Dipper muttered, looking down at his feet. “If I’d been killed unfairly and then come back only to see the town mocking me.” he looked back at the other boy. “This is going to be a weird question, but did it leave any marks?”

Without saying a word, Norman unzipped his hoodie a little, pulling down the collar of his shirt. 

On the now-exposed pale skin, there were branching lines of a lightning shaped scar, reaching from further down under the fabric towards his collarbone. “It left this, and I get cold pretty easily now.” he plucked at the hem of his jacket. “It’s why I’m wearing this in Oregon.”

“That didn’t even occur to me, Mabel wears sweaters every day we’re here.” Dipper motioned to his vest. “If you need extra layers, just tell me, alright? It probably won’t help much, but my vest is still pretty warm if you need it.” his face went a little pink as he offered, his hands shaking slightly as he looked at the other boy, meeting his eyes for a moment.

Laughing, Norman nodded. “Thanks man. I think I’ll be okay though.”

They started walking again, pausing for a few minutes when Mabel and Pacifica caught up to them. The blonde girl had actually dressed well for tromping around the woods: She wore pants and a tee-shirt, a bag slung over one shoulder as she shoved her cellphone into it. “Hello Dipper.”

“Pacifica.” he nodded at her. 

Mabel bounded to the front of the group, dragging Pacifica with her by the hand. “Where are we going?”

“I was kind of thinking that we should head for the overlook. It gives the best view of things, and it’s fairly out of the way of anything really dangerous.” Dipper pulled the journal out, flipping through it. “It’s probably not a good idea to go anywhere with some of the things we’ve faced, but we can look at them from a distance and not make any of them angry.”

“Sounds good to me!” Mabel laughed.

As they walked, Norman leaned closer to Dipper, an eyebrow raised. “Why does your sister have a grappling hook?”

“She got it when we were twelve and has taken it with her pretty much everywhere since. It has saved our lives a couple of times, so it’s alright with me for her to bring it with us.” Dipper shrugged. “The blonde girl is Pacifica Northwest, and I think she and my sister are dating? I don’t really know, and they haven’t said anything.”

“Based on the fact that they’re still holding hands, I’m gonna agree with you there.”

 

 

The walk through the woods was uneventful, despite nearly running into a group of gnomes as they wandered across the main path.

“Wait, so gnomes actually look like the garden statue things?” Norman asked as they headed up the incline that lead to the overlook. “I thought that they would have looked like the fairytale versions of them, not like the things that humans use as decorations.”

“Yeah, I know!” Dipper laughed for a few seconds too long, choking it down after a minute and coughing. “I think that there’s at least a few of the statues in town that are actually real gnomes and not statues. Some of them disappear at random times and when they show back up, everyone just sort of shrugs and doesn’t pay attention to it." 

"So who was the Norman you guys were talking about earlier?”

Mabel turned around, walking backwards as she looked at Norman. “He was this guy I was going out with and he was made of gnomes. Which was sad, because I actually kind of liked him. There were five gnomes in a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, and they had sticks that they were moving around for arms.” she sighed. “They wanted me to marry all one thousand of them and be their queen. When I didn’t want to, they formed into a giant gnome monster and tried to attack us.”

“We fought them with a leaf blower.” Dipper added.

“Well, I’m glad that they didn’t succeed.” Pacifica grumbled, adjusting her bag as she flipped her ponytail over one shoulder. “Life would be a lot duller without the two of you in it.” she looked fondly at Mabel for a second, her face falling into a softer expression. “Also, marrying a thousand little bearded men? I don’t think so, not even at her most boy-crazy moment.”  
They reached the peak of the overlook, pausing for a moment to gaze out over the trees. “So this is what Gravity Falls looks like…” Norman said quietly, his hands still tucked into his pockets. “It’s such a small town, must be kind of nice to live in the woods.”

“How big is the place you’re from if you think small towns are bad?” Pacifica raised an eyebrow, setting her bag down next to a rock. 

“It’s not that I think they’re bad, it’s just…I’m from a small town, and the mindset there tends to be ‘if it’s different, get rid of it’. I’ve talked to ghosts since I was a little kid, and that’s something I’ve always just kind of done.” Norman turned to look at her, a smile on his face. “It’s a bit of a relief to find out that there’s people who know about this stuff that aren’t really scared of it.”  
Mabel patted his shoulder before settling down on the ground, crossing her legs and grinning. “We’re sometimes scared of it, but mostly we’re the Mystery Twins.”

“Mystery Twins?”

“Uh-huh!” She giggled. “Our Grunkles are the Mystery Twins classic, we’re the new Mystery Twins! It means we hunt down mysteries and investigate them.”

Norman nodded. “That’s cool.”

Shrugging off his bag and settling it next to Pacifica’s, Dipper cleared his throat. “I wanted to bring you out here because it’s away from the Mystery Shack, and we’ve found that people don’t actually want to see real paranormal stuff.”

“Yeah, I figured that out too. My dad didn’t want to hear about it for the longest time, even when I tried to tell him that his mom was hanging around and asking for things to be done.” He rubbed at the back of his head, then went entirely still. “I-”

“Norman?” Mabel frowned, uncurling. 

The air felt stale, the slight breeze vanishing as the level of dry heat rose, digging into each of them. “This feels familiar, what- Norman?” Dipper asked, reaching for the journal. “Norman, are you okay?”

“The boy is a gateway.” something whispered using Norman’s voice, his eyes snapping open to reveal a brilliant green color. “And you brought him to us. We must thank you.”

Pacifica darted over to Mabel, clutching at her arm. “Um, Mabel?”

Norman’s head snapped to the side, looking at the two of them, a twisted grin on his face as he tracked their movements. “We must thank you.” it repeated, reaching out both of Norman’s hands and shoving the girls backwards, Pacifica’s arms wrapping tightly around Mabel’s waist as she tried to keep from moving.

It didn’t help.

Rushing forward to grab his sister, Dipper grunted in pain as he was thrown backwards, rolling across the ground and landing awkwardly on one arm, the journal flopping down next to him. “Mabel!”

All he saw was the wide-eyed look of panic on his sister’s face as she fell over the edge of the cliff.

“We’re thanking them.” the thing in Norman’s body whispered. “They’ll become like us and they’ll be part of us. We’re going to keep them, just like we’re going to keep you.” it knelt down next to him, pulling him back onto his feet. “We’ve been watching you, Pines. You walk around the Host like you want to keep him, and we will make it so that you can.”

It dragged him backwards, his shoes catching on the ground. Below them, Pacifica’s screams had stopped, and he wasn’t sure if that was because she had landed safely, or gotten a far worse ending.

Eyes wide and focused on Norman’s face, Dipper tried pushing away. “Let me go!”

“Don’t you want to stay with him?” it whispered, a hand stroking over his hat, fingers playing in the hair that stuck out the back of it. Those fingers latched around the back of Dipper’s neck, pulling him closer until their foreheads were pressed together. “He’s a Prenderghast, we haven’t seen one of those in a very long time. As members of the dead, they retain powers that they had in life.” it bent down, whispering in Dipper’s ear as it used Norman’s other hand to pull his shirt up and drag him even closer. “And even when he’s dead, we can still use them.”

Empty air was beneath them now, a gaping chasm of trees and sky seeming to swallow them as they started to fall.

“And we’ll keep you too.”

From behind them, a nearly inhuman growl echoed, followed shortly by what sounded like a grappling gun discharging towards them. 

A thick wire coiled around them, a sharp yank dragging them back towards the solid shape of the cliff, followed by a six fingered hand wrapping around Dipper’s upper arm. Another hand snagged the collar of his vest, pulling him towards a vertical position.  
“What in the name of sanity were you two doing?” Ford’s voice caught his attention as he wrapped his non-injured arm around Norman’s shoulders. “You could have died!”

Norman was shaking, and from what Dipper could see, his eyes were back to normal. “We could have…” he whispered, clinging to Dipper as he looked down, his eyes wide and his knuckles white. He didn’t speak again until he was on solid ground, his entire body still shaking as he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “I-I’m sorry, Mister Pines.” he whispered.

Ford watched him for a second, still breathing heavily, one hand on Dipper’s back. “It- It’s okay, kid. You’re both alright, and that’s all that really matters. I’m just glad that I was near enough to hear the screaming." 

Suddenly lunging for the edge of the cliff, Dipper looked down over the edge. "MABEL!”

“I’m okay!” his sister’s voice echoed back up towards him, the sight of her huddled closer to an obviously panicking Pacifica calming him down a little. “We’re both okay!”

“…I’m missing something here, what in the world just happened?” Ford looked between the two boys, an eyebrow raised. “Dipper?” he pulled his nephew back up again, frowning when he saw the already-purple bruises on his wrist. “Dipper, tell me what happened?”

“Something happened, I think there was a ghost that possessed Norman.” he scooted closer to the other teen, his uninjured hand wrapping protectively around him. “It pushed Mabel and Pacifica off the cliff, then tried to drag me over with it, saying something about keeping all of us and- W-well, it wasn’t good, what it was saying.” wincing when he accidentally bumped his wrist against the ground, Dipper gave his Grunkle a pained grin. “We’re okay though. Mabel had her grappling hook, she got Pacifica to safety, I’m good, but I think I may need to go to the hospital for my wrist…Norman?”

A shiver disrupted the shaking, and Dipper panicked slightly, tugging his vest off one-handedly and wrapping it around the boy. “Norman’s got circulation problems, and he just had to deal with a-”

“There were a bunch of them.” Norman whispered.

“What?” Ford looked at him, eyebrows bunching together as he tried to make sense of the comment. 

“The ghosts. There were a bunch of them. Most of them felt like violent deaths, but the one that was talking, he felt like something older, something…Different.” Norman swallowed heavily, pulling Dipper’s vest closer around him. “Like if I didn’t do what he wanted me to do, he was gonna ruin things.” leaning into the boy next to him, he pressed his cheek against Dipper’s shoulder. “He wanted to keep you though, he wasn’t lying about that.” he closed his eyes, still shaking and shivering. “I just don’t know what for.”

“We should get back to the house.” Ford decided, standing slowly and helping Dipper to his feet first, checking over his wrist. “You might have broken something.” he muttered, turning to offer a hand to Norman. 

The psychic took it, standing awkwardly with Dipper’s vest around him, the length of it inadequate when pressed against his taller body. “I- Oh, hi Aggie.” he muttered dazedly, eyes pinned on a spot in the air. When he didn’t say anything else, just nodded or shook his head occasionally, Dipper took him by the hand and followed Ford back to the house, sparing a worried glance at the boy every few minutes. 

“Boys, is there anything you can think of that might have allowed the ghosts to use his body like that?” Ford asked quietly, opening the door and ushering them inside. The clock on the wall said that it was only an hour and a half after they had left the first time, but Dipper wasn’t sure that he believed it.

“The ghost mentioned a name, but I didn’t really catch it…” Dipper shrugged, watching as Ford grabbed a first-aid kit. “Prenter-something, I think. I was too focused on trying to figure out how to keep us from going over the cliff.” he offered his wrist when Ford reached for it, his Grunkle splinting it carefully. “It sounded familiar, I know that, I just wish I knew why.”

“Prenderghast.” came Norman’s voice.

Ford’s eyes went wide as he turned to him, jaw dropping open slightly. “You’re a Prenderghast?”

“Yeah. The ghost- The demon -seemed really excited about that.” Norman collapsed backwards, onto the couch, then curled into himself. “I don’t know all of what he said though, and I just-” he covered his head with his hands, hiding his face in his knees. When Dipper sat down next to him, he didn’t even flinch. One of his hands shifted, allowing him to look around. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Dipper asked, an eyebrow raised. “I’m kind of the reason you got followed, if you hadn’t kept returning to the Mystery Shack to talk to me about Tyrone, you wouldn’t have been. They wouldn’t have pegged you as the medium if I had never done that stupid plan to get Wendy to dance with me when I was younger.” he laughed when Norman made a face. “Yeah, that’s the look Mabel gave me when she found out.”

“That is the weirdest reason to make clones of yourself.”

“I know, right?”

Ford looked between the two of them, a small smile on his face. “Norman? Would you like to call your parents? It seems like it might be best to inform them of what’s happened to you today.”

“Y-yeah,” Norman pulled a cellphone out of his pocket, navigating through the menus quietly. He was quiet for a moment before it seemed like the other end of the line picked up. “Hi mom.” he greeted, scratching nervously at the back of his head. “So that boy I was telling you about, the one who works at the Mystery Shack…”

A pause.

“Yeah.” Norman’s eyes shifted to look at Dipper. “Well, we kind of had a run-in with ghosts today. He- No, I’m okay. Mostly.” his face went pink. “Most of the damage was done to him, and I- Oh, okay.” he pulled the phone away from his ear, looking at Ford. “She wants to talk to an adult in Dipper’s family, if that’s okay." 

When Ford nodded, he handed the phone over, watching as the man stood and walked a little bit away from them, a nervous sort of pacing as he talked to the woman on the other side of the conversation.

"You seem really relaxed about this.” Dipper observed, an eyebrow raised.

Norman shrugged, then took a deep breath. “You sort of get used to these things when you deal with them every day. I don’t even have to go looking to find paranormal things, they’re just sort of there.” he leaned a little closer, one of his knees nudging against Dipper’s. “I walk out the door and there’s ghosts of animals and people and I’ve never really-” he cut himself off, rubbing at his elbow. “It means I’m never alone, and I guess I just don’t get…Scared…Of death.” he frowned, curling over his knees and accidentally bumping his arm into Dipper. “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah.” Dipper looked up when the door opened, waving his non-injured hand at his sister. “Are you two alright?”

Mabel skipped into the room, brushing dirt and leaves out of her hair as she went, straightening her sweater before plopping on the ground in front of her brother. “I’m okay. Pacifica?”

“If a ghost ever does that to me again, I am so going to hurt them.” Pacifica grumbled, settling down next to Mabel in a much more graceful manner. “My hair is a wreck and I think I almost swallowed my tongue at one point.” she looked up at Norman, an eyebrow raised. “Are you alright?”

“I-I thought you guys would hate me for this.” Norman mumbled.

“As if.” Pacifica rolled her eyes. “I sort of did when we were falling, but when we landed safely, Mabel explained a few things to me and I felt better about it. But seriously, are you okay? You didn’t look right when you pushed us off the cliff.”

“I’m okay.” he answered quietly, looking over at Dipper. “I might have broken his wrist.”

“Ah, Dipdip’ll forgive you, right Dipper?" 

Dipper grinned nervously, holding up the splint. "This isn’t the first time I’ve broken something, and considering all the luck I’ve had when encountering the supernatural, I’m gonna consider this more of the same. I mean, the ghosts could have just easily tossed us all over the edge with no hesitation, but they seemed to want permission for something.”

“They still tried to toss us over the edge, Dipper.” Norman deadpanned, expression somewhat frustrated.

“Yeah, but it seemed odd.” Dipper looked around for something, then winced. “Crap, I left the journal there.” he glanced at Ford, still talking on the phone. “Do you think we have time to go find it before anyone else finds it?”

“Dipper, you really don’t pay attention sometimes.” Mabel grinned at him, leaning back on her hands. “I hiked back up and grabbed it, it’s why me and Pacifica were late getting back here." 

Ford approached them again, the phone held near his chest. "Norman, your mother and father are in a town a couple over, the plan was to leave you with your sister in the hotel here.” he put the phone back to his ear again. “Would it perhaps be easier if we had them here for the night? I know from my own experiences that a hotel when you’re dealing with these things is not the best solution.” he listened to her response, then nodded. “Yes. Alright, we have to head into the main area of town anyway, it’s really no trouble.”

He paused for a moment, fingers tapping against his palm. “I do not intend to let them out of my sight for the rest of the evening, so it works out well enough. I will see the two of you tomorrow, have a good evening.” Hanging up the call, Ford turned to Norman and handed back the phone. “You’re supposed to call your sister and tell her to meet us downtown.” he made a face. “Your mother is a somewhat terrifying woman." 

"She’s like that.” Norman took his phone back, typing out a text quickly before sending it off. “I’m staying here tonight?”

“Only if it is alright with you.” Ford answered, leaning over the back of the couch to check on Dipper’s wrist. “If it isn’t, we’re to drop you back off at your hotel and your parents will be back either tomorrow,” he sighed, then stood up straight and shrugged. “Or, worst case scenario, day after tomorrow. Their car apparently had some trouble, and the mechanic in town told them that he didn’t have the part to fix it. By the time they drove to the one who did, the car broke down, stranding them where they are.”

Norman sighed. “I told them the car wasn’t gonna last for this entire trip.” he rubbed at his face. “If we’re going to the hospital to get Dipper’s wrist looked at, do we have time to stop at the hotel so I can grab my clothes?”

The door opened again, admitting Stan into the room. “I only heard a little bit of that and it does not sound good.” he remarked. “Why are we going to a hotel and why does Dipper need a hospital?” he looked at the group of teenagers and sighed. “And why is there a large group of kids in the house?”

“We went on our hike like we planned and then Norman got possessed.” Dipper said, eyes slightly larger than usual as he looked up at his Grunkle. 

“Dipper’s wrist might be broken.” Mabel added in. “And Norman’s parents are out of town, stuck there, because their car broke.”

“I am not sure if I’m staying tonight.” Pacifica ventured, raising her hand. “But I might because I just fell off a cliff and nearly died.”

Rolling his eyes, trying to hide the faint grin on his face as he walked past them. “I’ll grab my keys.” as he passed Mabel, he ruffled her hair and tapped on the back of her head. “Hey sweetie. I’m guessing you’re the reason we don’t have a dead heiress?”

“GRAPPLING HOOK!” Mabel threw her hands into the air as she shouted. “It’s SO USEFUL!”

 

The drive into town was nearly normal, would have been safe if it weren’t for the fact that stoplight on the main road malfunctioned.

It was a single moment of weirdness, but it caused someone to run what should have been a red light.

“Holy Moses, what the hell are people in this town thinking?” Stan snarled as he jerked the wheel sideways, swerving out of the way just in time to avoid the oncoming driver. “The light was clearly- Oh, it’s not.” he frowned as he looked out the windshield, squinting up at the pole in front of them. “You guys okay?” he asked of his car full of teenagers, leaning over the seat to check on them. 

Dipper, face pale and hand pressed carefully against his chest to avoid jostling his wrist, nodded first. “I think so?”

Sitting next to him, Mabel had an arm thrown across his chest and over his elbow, like her first reaction was to keep him safe. Next to her was Pacifica, whose eyes were wide and bright, like she was panicking. “Today has been too many close calls.” Mabel squeaked, her other hand wrapped tightly in the blonde girl’s.

“Hey, Norman, you okay?” Stan turned to the newest addition to the group. 

Norman was looking at the light still, his eyes narrowed as he studied it. “I-I-” he unclipped his seatbelt, throwing the door open and stepping out of the car. With one hand still on the door, he frowned as the light kept flickering, a rave-like flash of colors as it changed. “Something’s not right here.”

Something off to the side caught his attention. “Yeah?” he asked quietly.

“…I don’t think he’s okay.” Stan remarked, looking at the teen worriedly, an eyebrow raised. “He’s talking to thin air, that kind of means he’s not okay, right?”

“He can talk to ghosts.” Dipper explained, struggling to unclip himself so that he could get out of the car as well. It was fruitless until Mabel reached down and hit the button for him, causing him to nearly slam his face into the seat in front of him. Eventually, he managed to get to his feet, splinted wrist held carefully aloft as he joined the other boy on the side of the road. “Norman, who are you talking to?”

“Aggie, I’m talking to Aggie.” Norman whispered, still watching the light with an expression of fear and worry. “She says that something came up out of the ground and sort of- What?” he paused, turning slightly to one side. “She says that part of something, like a hand and an arm, came up out of the ground and wrapped around the light, made it do that.”

Dipper nodded slowly, looking from the teen to the light. “If that’s true, then maybe your family’s car didn’t break down on it’s own.”

Blue eyes turned to land on him, the starkly pale skin suddenly seeming even more so against the dark of his hair. “Aggie says that she couldn’t get to me until just a little bit ago, something was keeping her away.” he ran a hand through his hair, frown growing as he muttered something. “There’s something coming, something bad.”

Suddenly, he went stiff, then started to push Dipper back towards the car. “In in in,” he whispered, plopping down on the seat after him, slamming the door and practically smashing the lock down.

Once inside the car, the group of them settled back in, Stan giving Norman a raised eyebrow when the teen asked him to keep driving. 

“Alright kid, but you’re going to have to explain a bit once we get back to the house.” Stan grumbled, starting the car back up and practically diving back into traffic, gripping the wheel tightly when the road buckled beneath them. “We’re grabbing your stuff and your sister first, then heading to the hospital.”

“Good!” Dipper called out first, a careful hand on Norman’s arm. “I don’t think we want to leave anyone connected that directly to this alone right now.”

Throwing the car into the turn that led to the hotel, Stan slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt less than fifteen feet from the door. “Go grab your things, grab your sister, let’s get out of here!”

Instead of letting Dipper go, Mabel unbuckled and climbed over his lap, heading out the door behind Norman. “Sorry bro bro, you’re injured and we need to move quickly and he shouldn’t go alone,” she explained rapidly, even as she shut the door on him. With that done, she turned on her heel and sped off after Norman, catching up to him at the door and putting her hand on his shoulder as they started running.

“Are they going to be okay?” Pacifica asked quietly.

Dipper’s undamaged hand clenched into a fist as he stared intently at the hotel. “I really hope so.”

 

“Aggie says-” Norman gasped, already winded from running the forty feet into the building from the front door to where they were. “That we shouldn’t take the elevator.”

“Got it!” Mabel looked around for a moment, spying a door labeled 'stairs’, bursting through it and taking them two at a time. “Want me to carry you?” she offered, looking over her shoulder at him. “I could totally carry you.”

“Please don’t,” Norman said quietly, one hand pressed against his side. 

“Where are we going?”

“Second floor!”

Without even pausing to take the corner carefully and very nearly tripping because of it, Mabel skidded up the next flight of stairs. “Gotcha!” she shouted over the echoes of their footsteps on the concrete stairs. “Is your sister in the room or waiting outside of it?”

Norman followed, wincing with every breath he took. “She should be inside, waiting for us to come get her.” he managed, choking every few syllables.

Mabel burst through the next door, holding it open just long enough for Norman to get through it behind her. “Which room?” she asked, grabbing for his hand to help keep him upright. “Which door am I looking for here?”

“Third on the le-” he coughed, then tried again. “Third door on the left from where the elevators are.”

Screeching to a halt in front of the right door, Mabel finally stopped her mad dash, flapping the edge of her sweater at her face. “Oh man, I haven’t done that fast of a run since before school let out for the summer.” she laughed, then dropped the edge of her sweater, fanning at her face with her hands. “Woo!”

From his pocket, Norman pulled a wallet, dragging a key out from the folds of it and opening the door. “Courtney?” he called as he entered, waving Mabel in after him. “Courtney, are you here?”

“I’m here!” she called from what seemed to be the bathroom.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, just give me a sec!”

“We don’t-” Norman sighed, pressing his hands to his face. “We don’t really have a second, Courtney, we need to go now!”

The door opened, revealing the pink-clad girl that Mabel had seen in the gift shop. “Norman, what’s the big hurry?” she paused, then made a face. “Please don’t tell me that you managed to find zombies here, too! Norman, you know better than to talk to strange dead things when you don’t know what really happened to them!” she turned to face Mabel. “Oh, hi.”

“Hello!” Mabel grinned up at her, then nudged Norman. “You should grab your stuff.”

Nearly tripping over his own feet, Norman went to do so, tossing things haphazardly into his duffel bag. “And I didn’t find zombies!” he shot back at his sister. “I got possessed earlier by a ghost that tried to kill her,” he pointed at Mabel with an elbow. “And broke her brother’s wrist. We also have to go to the hospital so that he can get that checked on. Our ride is downstairs, and there’s an active ghost attack happening, so we don’t really have time to be slow!”

Courtney blinked as she took the new information in, an eyebrow arched and her lips pursed. “…Alright.” she pointed at Mabel as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Who is she?”

“I’m Mabel!” Mabel grinned as she held out a hand, her nails painted a chipped but still sparkling purple color that matched the cuffs and edges of her sweater. “My Grunkle is our ride, and he gets a little impatient sometimes, so don’t be too upset if he’s all grumpy when we go down there.”

Norman shuffled back over, his bag resting on one shoulder. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Courtney walked over and grabbed her own bag from where it sat against the wall. “I packed when you first texted me about not staying here tonight. 

"Good!” Mabel laughed as she lead the way back out of the room, letting them pause long enough to lock the door. “See? We’re gonna be okay.” she headed for the stairs again, ignoring Courtney’s quiet question about the elevators.


	5. Try Again But From The Start

Finally arriving back at the Shack was a welcome relief, each of them bone-tired and ready to not move for a long while.

Norman held his sister's hand tightly, each of them lugging a bag along as they paused behind the younger set of Pines twins. Dipper turned to look at them, a small smile on his face in an attempt to reassure, a dark green cast around his right wrist, his left hand tucked into the pocket of his shorts. "It's gonna be okay." he whispered, shrugging as he gestured around the room. "Your parents are gonna be back in town soon."

"Thanks." Norman smiled back, his grip on Courtney's hand easing up a little. 

Stan turned to look back at the group of them, raising an eyebrow at them still standing near the door. "Well," he began, shrugging in the same way as Dipper had. "Anywhere that's not our rooms or the basement is up for grabs. There's a bunch of blankets and pillows, and if you don't feel like sleeping, the tv can't be heard from the bedrooms or really anywhere but the kitchen." he sighed, then stretched his back, tugging at his tie as he started to walk up the stairs. "I'll make dinner in a bit, alright kids?"

"Alright Grunkle Stan!" Mabel and Dipper said at once. 

Courtney raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips as she watched him walk off. "So we're staying here tonight." she turned to look at Mabel. "Is there a place I can stay in this house that won't lead to me being in a room of boys?" 

"You can stay in our room!" Dipper hurried to say, cheeks flushed when he realized how it had come out. "I m-mean, Mabel?"

"I'll sleep on Dipper's bed and you can sleep in mine." Mabel translated, patting her brother on the shoulder. "We share a room normally, so there's a dividing curtainy thing between the sides of the room. I would say I hope you like pink, but," she grinned and gestured at the sweatshirt Courtney wore. "I'm guessing that you do."

"If Courtney and Mabel are taking your room, where are you sleeping?" Norman asked quietly.

Dipper tugged on the brim of his hat almost nervously, shrugging again. "I thought that I'd camp out in the living room. I don't sleep much anyways, so it might be a nice way to not wake someone up in the middle of the night for once." his cheeks went redder and he swallowed. "If you want, I can sleep somewhere else if you want to stay in the living room."

"I don't sleep much either." a small smile tugged at Norman's lips and he held up his bag. "Is it cool if I camp out in the living room with you? It seems like it'd be easier. Unless you don't want me in the same room as you, I'd understand."

"Yeah, a camp out sort of thing would be cool." Dipper grinned. "Here, drop your bag by the chair and follow me, we've got sleeping bags up in the attic."

Mabel watched the two of them go, a huge grin on her face as they disappeared up the stairs. "Yes!" she hissed, throwing her hands in the air victoriously. Turning to face Courtney again, she paused, then sighed. "Is it as obvious as I think it is?"

The older girl's eyebrows both shot up. "What, that my nerd little brother has a crush on your twin brother ? Oh yeah." She slung her bag back over her shoulder. "Is the attic where we're sleeping? I don't want to interrupt them if they're trying to flirt awkwardly." she laughed. "And if it involves Norman and romance, there is going to be awkward flirting. What about your brother, is he any good at it?"

"Nah, he's kind of terrible at romance." Mabel hopped up onto the couch, playing with the edge of once cushion. "He spent almost all of our first summer here crushing on one of the people who works in the gift shop and she knew about it weeks before he confessed."

"So he's bad at hiding crushes and he's, what, even worse at saying anything about it?"

"Yeah." 

Courtney sighed, letting her head fall to the back of the couch. "Well, I really hope that Norman's crush on him works out. Otherwise, we kind of got into this sitch without reason."

"Wait, you said that Norman has a crush on Dipper?" Mabel's grin couldn't be called anything but gleeful. "Dipper has a crush on Norman!" her hands were clasped together as she looked at the older girl, practically bouncing in her seat. "Oh this is perfect!"

With a bit of snorting laughter, Courtney sat back up. "Yeah, it kind of is. Norman said that there was a ghost hovering around the boy at the gift shop, but when I bugged him about it he also said that he thought the guy was cute." she paused for a moment. "How old are you two? Norman's sixteen, I don't want there to be anything weird."

"We're fifteen." 

"Okay, good." Courtney slid her bag off of her lap, watching it drop slowly to the floor. "So what's with your great-uncle? He seems completely unfazed by any of what was happening, even with your brother's broken wrist."

"Life has been like this for us every summer." the younger girl folded her hands together under her knees, leaning forward and pressing them deeping into the couch. "Some summers are weirder than other, and some are more dangerous than others, but this is generally what it's like." she pushed her hair out of her face. "This is only our third summer here, so it's a little difficult to make a blanket statement about these things. Sometimes we also come up here for the holidays, and that's always fun, usually there's lots of snow."

"Christmas here must be nice." Courtney muttered.

"I don't know." Mabel shrugged. "I've never actually celebrated Christmas."

"Wait, what?"

Mabel grinned, kicking her feet gently, the heels of her shoes thudding against the bottom of the couch. "Well, Jewish families don't tend to celebrate Christmas. We get Hannukah, and I think it's a lot more fun, even if my Grunkles don't really practice anymore." 

"...Focusing on several things here." Courtney made a face. "First: Neat, non-Christmas people. I might have to ask you what that's like. Second: Grunkle? Third: Grunkles? As in multiple?"

"Great-Uncle. Grunkle." Mabel nodded. "And yeah, we've got two Grunkles and they are the best ever! Seriously, some of the stuff that Grunkle Ford creates and brings to our attention is amazing!" she frowned, then looked at a spot on the floor. "Sometimes it's dangerous. Sometimes he comes back and he's got a bloody nose or a bruised eye. Grunkle Stan has to help him with that usually."

"Ford and Stan, huh?" Courtney slid the end of her ponytail over her shoulder, running her fingers through it. She smiled as she nodded. "My mom says we have a cousin like that."

Biting her lip, Mabel shrugged. "It might be a little different."

"As long as they're happy, it shouldn't matter." Courtney patted her shoulder. "Besides, isn't that what Dipper's aiming for?"

"...Ewww." Mabel's nose wrinkled. "See, that's where it's a little different."

Footsteps clomped down the stairs, the heavy sound of boots, and both girls turned to look. "Hi Grunkle Ford!" Mabel called happily. She launched herself off the couch and hugged him tightly, leaning into it when he petted gently at her hair.

"Hello sweetie. Is everything alright, did Dipper get his arm looked at?" Ford smiled at his niece. 

"Yeah, he had to get a cast. The doctor said it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Mabel pressed the bottom of her chin into Ford's chest, looking up at him. "If he'd twisted it just a little more, it would have required metal and a different kind of cast. We kind of got attacked on our way into town though, something was messing with the streetlights and another car nearly hit us."

"I was hearing about that part." he looked beyond her for a second, catching sight of Courtney, then smiled again. "You must be the other Babcock child. Courtney, correct?"

"Yeah." she nodded, standing up and coming closer, offering a hand. "Apparently you're the second Grunkle?" she watched as he took her hand, shaking it twice before letting it go. The sixth finger got a passing glance before it was ignored in favor of looking at the man's face. "Thanks for letting us stay here. I'm pretty sure that neither of us wanted to be at the hotel without our parents. I mean, I turn nineteen this year, but that place kind of creeps me out."

Ford laughed, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "It is one of the best places to receive a paranormal entity signature from. If you're frightened or worried about it, there is a good reason."

Seeming to decide something, Courtney smiled again, nodding. "And our parents still weren't listening to Norman when he said he saw something." she laughed a little, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I would have thought that they'd learned their lesson when there was a ghost hovering above the town and zombies running around and we had to deal with it."

"You were at Blithe Hollow as well." Ford remarked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at her. "If you wouldn't mind-"

"Grunkle Ford." Mabel groaned, poking him in the ribs. 

"Right, right." he grinned and bent down to hug her tightly. "I won't pester for information." he looked up to see Courtney watching them, her lips pursed as she studied them. "Is everything alright?"

"What happened in the town we live in was kind of, like, scarier than anything else I have ever been through." she said quietly. "I was just trying to find my brother in the mess of it, and then he was angry because no one ever believed him...He nearly died. I almost lost my little brother because I was too wrapped up in my own head at the time." sighing, she slogged back over to the couch, dropping on to it bonelessly. "I'll totally tell you if you really want to know, but you have to understand that I would mostly be talking about what I saw. I still don't know all of what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Norman faced Agatha on his own." Courtney shrugged. "I don't know what he said to her exactly, I don't know most of the details. I know she sometimes shows up, and that he always talks to her when he can, but I-" she opened and closed her mouth uselessly for a second. "I'm not the one who you should be asking if you want to know."

Mabel looked between the two of them, then pulled out of her Grunkle's arms. "I'm just gonna go get-" she cut off abruptly as she scurried out of the room.

Approaching the couch cautiously, Ford sat down on the other end of it. "Supernatural phenomenon is not always the best thing to be a witness to." he started, voice soft as he looked at the young woman. "And honestly, I find it somewhat unfortunate that your parents chose to bring you here for a break. This is one of the most paranormally active towns that I have ever known."

"They wanted to find something that would make it less...Awful." Courtney muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and drawing her legs up so that her knees were tucked under her elbows. "Even though nothing really happened, even though the zombies weren't evil or trying to kill us, I still sometimes wake up with nightmares." she jerked her head, aiming her chin towards the stairs. "Norman felt more at home with them. He told me once that he felt comfortable around them, and hasn't really felt that way before or since."

Looking down at his own hands, Ford nodded. "I can understand the sentiment." he whispered. 

"I love my brother, I really do." Courtney unfolded slightly, pulling at the end of her ponytail. "But I can't be part of the same world as him, and I'm not sure I want to understand it. He's dealt with some other things since, y'know? I'm excited for him, he's finding something he enjoys and he's growing up, but I'm terrified of the world he's found.

"I guess it's why I like this place." she finished, tucking one curled up hand under her chin, eyes focused on a spot on the floor. "It makes it all a little less scary. If I can joke about some of the stuff like what's on the Mystery Tour, then it all seems just a bit less...Nightmare-ish."

"I think I understand." Ford smiled at her. "My brother did the same sort of thing. He came and found out what I was working on and then, when something earth-shattering happened to shake his conviction of safety in this world of mine, he created the Mystery Shack. I think I understand his reasoning for it a little better now." he clasped his hands together. "Thank you. I think I'm going to talk to him now."

As he stood, she curled back up, eyes focused on him now. "Is it both of you?"

"...What?"

"I'm smarter than I pretend to be." with a sigh, she leaned forward to press her chin against her knee. "Are the both of you involved in it, or is it just a one-sided thing? Because one-sided romances are always the worst."

"...I-" Ford's mouth hung open for a few minutes as he stared at her. Finally, he cleared his throat, cheeks flushed, and answered. "It's both of us. Are you-"

"It's fine by me." Courtney shrugged. "I mean, I'm probably the last person you're looking for acceptance from, but as long as it's two consenting people and they're...Well..." she shrugged again. "The both of you seem pretty happy with your lives, and remarkably well adjusted for what your lives are like according to Mabel. As long as everyone is of the right age and consenting, I figure everything's good." she smiled a little, the worry of before fading away. "Besides, it seems like Mabel knows and supports it, so there's that going for you."

Footsteps coming down the stairs made both of them look up.

Stan stopped where he was when he noticed two pairs of eyes focusing on him. Instead of the full suit he had been wearing earlier, he had stripped off the jacket, the tie, and the fez, leaving him in a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his slacks. "What-" he cleared his throat nervously. "What's going on?"

Ford took his hand, cheeks still a bright pink color, then led him out of the room.

"Dipper knows too." Mabel's voice came from behind Courtney. When the older girl turned to look at her, she grinned, a fond look in her eyes as she stared in the direction her Grunkles had gone. "It was a little weird at first, I mean...They're brothers." she bit her bottom lip, worrying at it for a second. "But Grunkle Stan tried to run away, and he's been nothing but in love with Grunkle Ford since they were kids. They fought a lot when Grunkle Ford first came back; they spent days yelling at each other, and I think they might have thought we couldn't hear it."

"But you did, obviously." Courtney stepped back towards her, smiling a little now. "Wait, so he ran away?"

"Yeah." a hand wiping roughly at one eye, Mabel nodded. "We woke up and we couldn't find him, but we found a note that he'd left for Grunkle Ford and he'd left gifts for us and notes for us too, and we-" she broke off, a choked sob in her throat. "Grunkle Stan gave me my first pair of boxing gloves when he nearly disappeared."

Courtney thought about it for a second, then leaned in and hugged her, resting her chin on top of Mabel's head. "I think I'm missing, like, half the story here, but I kind of get it. You sound like you like it here, probably more than you like it at home."

"It's not like home is bad," Mabel shrugged, her hands curling around Courtney's arm and holding on tightly for a minute. "It's just not here. There's so much more going on here, and I finally feel like I-" she took a deep breath. "Like I belong." she let go of her arm, shaking back the sleeves of her sweater, turning one hand so that she could point at a faint scar on the side, then showing the other one. "Our parents had a choice made when we were born, and I wish they had just left it alone until we were old enough to make it."

Pulling away and taking Mabel's hand in her own, Courtney tilted her head to one side. "Wait, so you were like your Grunkle?"

"A full finger friendlier than normal!" Mabel grinned again, looking up the stairs. "Both Dipper and I were born like that. I didn't even know until I found a picture that was taken literally an hour after we were born."

"That's kind of neat." Norman's voice carried across the room from the base of the stairs, Dipper standing behind him with an embarrassed flush to his cheeks and a small smile as he looked at the back of Norman's head. 

"Now-is-not-the-time," Dipper hissed at his sister, curling his arms tighter to his chest, clutching at the sleeping bag he had dragged down the stairs. 

Mabel skipped over to her brother, tugging him past Norman and laughing. "Now is totally the time! At least it's not the Lamby dance." she shot a look at Norman, then Courtney. "You might be hearing about that later."

"Mabel!"

"Dipper!" she returned, poking his cheek. "You're still so serious all the time, it's like you're just kind of the same as Grunkle Ford was when he first got back." she waved Courtney over, weaving around her brother to head up the stairs. "I'm gonna get her settled in a bit, then we might come down and watch a movie, if it's okay with you guys."

Sighing and rolling his eyes before smiling, Dipper nodded. "Alright." he moved out of the way when Courtney approached with her duffel bag. 

 

XxXxX

 

The next day was spent in a haze of movie watching and talking, each of the younger Pines trying to figure out a bit more of the Babcocks' history.

For the most part, it was Mabel doing the talking, Dipper having tried a couple of times before giving up and sticking his face in his own journal, inching slowly closer to Norman over the space of a half hour. When he glanced up to see Mabel watching him, he nearly dropped his book, swallowing heavily and curling himself into a tangle of limbs and book.

"So why doesn't the cast change anything?" Courtney finally asked, her eyebrow raised as she filed her nails. "I thought you were right handed or something."

"I just sort of...I guess I'm ambidextrous?" Dipper shrugged, looking down at the green cast and making a face. "My dad taught me how to write with both, and I kept going with it. Grunkle Ford is too, actually." he gestured at his sister. "She can't write in right-to-left with her left hand, but she can do mirror writing pretty easily."

Mabel grinned. "I used to do it on homework until they sent a letter home."

"Kids?" called Ford from the other room, appearing in the doorway a few seconds afterwards. "I was thinking about heading into the woods and seeing if there were any indications of the ghost that attacked you. Do any of you want to come along?"

Dipper immediately perked up, a smile on his face as he raised his hand into the air. "Can I come?"

"Sure." Ford grinned at him, settling something in a holster on his belt. "But you have to promise to stay close, alright? You're already injured."

The younger Pines rushed up the stairs, nearly tripping on the first ones in his haste to get ready to go. Ford chuckled and turned to look at the rest. "Anyone else? If we're going, we're going as a group, no solo trips into the woods today."

"Just let me grab my grappling hook and I'll be ready to go." Mabel hopped off the arm of the couch and followed her brother, skipping much more gracefully up the stairs. 

Ford nodded, then turned to the others. "Would either of you like to go? It seems awfully rude of me to ask and not include you." he swallowed, then nodded. "Unless you want to stay here, of course. There is that option, if you would prefer it. I mean, you don't have to-"

"What poindexter is trying to say is that he's nervous about anyone being alone right now, and that there's a crazy ghost threat." Stan interrupted, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder, a crooked grin on his face. "I called Wendy, and she'll be running the gift shop, she'll be on shift soon, and she's okay with watching over the house."

Courtney hummed. "Who's Wendy?"

"She works for my brother, and she is about your age." Ford answered first, then paused and turned to look fully at her. "Actually, you might get along with her, and you would probably like it better than travelling out into the woods." he cleared his throat. "If you would like, she also has a key to the house so that you can come and go while you are here."

"I think I'll stay here. I mean, it's not like there's much else I can do here." Courtney shrugged. "Is that okay?"

"Yes, completely alright." Ford smiled, a small bit of relief flashing across his face. "Stan?"

Stan nodded, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt. He had forgone his usual suit entirely, switching to a pair of dark pants in a heavier fabric and a long sleeved shirt in the same dark brown as his eyes. "It's fine with me, Sixer." he rubbed the edge of his chin along his brother's shoulder for a second, then went back to grumbling at his sleeves. Finally, he just pushed them up to his elbows and nodded in satisfaction. "There."

His brother handed him something from his belt before nodding as well. "There." he agreed, a small, private sort of smile that was aimed solely at Stan.

Norman sat up, raising a hand into the air like he was waiting to be called on. When everyone looked at him, he lowered it slowly, almost self conciously. "Can I go?" he gestured at himself, then at a spot in the air. "Aggie says there's something weird about the forest, even more than what it's supposed to be, and I can see ghosts, so it might be useful for me to be there?"

"Of course you can." Ford turned to look at him. "I will caution you to stay close to the group, however. The rest of us know the area fairly well, and if we stop paying attention to where we are, we might leave you behind."

"Got it." Norman stood up and moved to get his shoes, sitting on the floor to pull them on. 

Dipper and Mabel chose that moment to come running back down the stairs, a bag over her shoulder and a camera slung around his neck. On Mabel's hip was her grappling hook, and she patted it once before she came to a stop next to her Grunkle. "Ready to go!" she reported, grinning wildly.

"Ready to go." Dipper echoed.

Norman stood up and tucked his hands into his pockets. "I think I'm ready."

"Let's head out then," Ford smiled back at them, putting a hand on his brother's elbow for just a second. "Probably best to do this before sundown."

 

The woods were dark, even with the bright sunshine that surrounded them, dappled shadows shifting across their faces as they walked through. 

Norman watched as Dipper and Ford walked side-by-side, each of them noting things down in the journals they carried. "So," he began quietly, turning to look at Mabel. "What does your brother- I mean, I-"

"You could just ask him out." Mabel whispered, smiling at the Medium. "I'm pretty sure he'd say yes, y'know."

Eyes wide and face the same color as his hoodie, Norman stared at her. "What? H-how'd you know?" he glanced at Stan, who was snapping photos of things that looked vaguely interesting. "And could...Wait, he'd say yes?"

"Courtney told me that you have a crush on him." she explained quietly, putting a careful hand on his shoulder. "And Dipper was telling me that he thought you wouldn't like him back, which is why he didn't bring it up because he does really like you but he's also kind of hoping it'll go away." she took a deep breath, then started again. "We're not from Gravity Falls, we're usually from somewhere more South than here, and I guess I can see why he'd think that way..."

"It'd be long distance, if anything happened." Norman muttered, making a face and looking down at his feet. "I kind of want to try, though. I mean, if it's really something he'd say yes to if I asked, then I at least want to try."

The group of them passed into a clearing and Norman's spine went stiff, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. "Uh, guys?" he called out.

A deep, horrible laughter echoed throughout the woods, drawing everyone's attention. "Hello again, little Prenderghast." the ghost sneered, waving a hand at him. Norman winced when it felt like someone was tugging on his heart, trying to pull it out of his chest. "There we go, now everyone can join in on the fun."

Ford growled something as he grabbed Stan's arm and pushed Dipper behind him in one smooth motion. "Mabel, stay close to us," he urged her, a small hint of fear in his eyes.

In response, she grabbed Norman's wrist and dragged him closer, huddling next to her brother.

"So the Pines come to see me." the ghost crooned, positioning himself as if he were leaning against a wall. His eyes, black pits that seemed to be a void that drew everything in, roved over the group of people before him. "How sweet, you think defending your territory is going to be anything but a bloody end for the lot of you."

An icy spike of fear in his stomach, Norman tried to step forward, only to be held back by the younger set of Pines twins. "Guys,"

"No, Norman, he's probably a category ten ghost, you don't need to face him alone." Dipper hissed, wrapping both of his hands around the other boy's wrist, looking down when the edge of his cast bumped the knuckles of Norman's hand. "He's dangerous, he's already proven that he can possess you."

"I don't want him to hurt you either!" Norman hissed back, his eyes wide as he stared into Dipper's. 

The younger teen blushed, still holding onto his hand. 

Letting out a horrible sort of wail, the ghost grew larger, his eyes staying the same black holes in the world as they had been before. "You seem to be reacting under the impression that any of you will survive, even if there is sacrifice." he cackled madly, the air going stale around them. All other noises seemed to die off as he drew himself up, not even the chirping of the birds a reassuring background soundtrack. "The Prenderghast will stay, the Pines will stay."

A small bolt of lightning split the group as they dove to the side to avoid it.

"Not a one of you will make it out of these woods alive!" the ghost screeched, his hair floating around his face as it contorted in rage. "Your worst nightmares will come true, and there will be nothing for you to do except watch as your world falls apart!"

A haze floated through the air, a choking heaviness that was followed by a flash of heat and the smell of smoke. 

Dipper turned to look for Norman, hands outstretched to find him in the sudden gloom of the clearing. "Norman!" he called out, an edge of panic in his voice, turning frantically from side to side. "Mabel, Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford!" 

He paused, then shuddered as he felt someone watching him. "Okay, if anyone can hear me, please answer me!"

No voices came from the darkness.

Turning in place, his cast-bound arm pressed against his chest, Dipper's eyes grew wide. The clearing was visible again, but he was alone. Not even the trees were moving as he looked around in panic. "Guys?" his voice cracked, his uninjured hand clenching uselessly in the air. From behind him came the sound of Mabel laughing, a happy sound that brought a smile to his face as he turned to race towards it.

What seemed like only a few seconds later, Dipper ran out of the woods and into the cleared land that surrounded the two buildings belonging to his Grunkles.

Mabel was sitting on the porch.

On one side of her was Ford and on the other was Stan, both of them focused entirely on her, not even bothering to look up as Dipper approached. "Guys, what just happened? Did I lose track of time or something?"

No one answered him.

"Mabel?"

She was still laughing, joined by their Grunkles. 

Leaning closer and trying to put a hand on his sister's shoulder, Dipper made a low noise of horror when it simply went intangibly through. "Mabel!" he shouted this time, hoping for something that he already knew wasn't going to happen. "Mabel, please look at me!"

Her eyes, crinkled in happiness and amusement, focused on the sky above his head.

 

~

 

"What's he talking about, worst nightmares?" Mabel asked as she turned to look at Dipper. "I mean, it's not like he can actually do anything to us! Ghosts can't-"

Dipper wasn't there.

Instead, she was facing the electric-blue wall of a tent. When she spun around to look in the other direction, a line of carved wooden benches greeted her, a five-point star with an eye in the middle painted on the sides. A mirror off to one side showed her reflection: she wore a dress the same color as the tent, a darker blue jacket layered over it. Her headband was replaced with one that held an eerily familiar stone, and her feet were crammed into black heels.

A figure joined her in the reflection, a hand wrapping around her waist. "Don't we look lovely, my sweet?" 

She shrieked and backed away, hands held up. "Get away from me, Gideon!" 

Gideon watched as she moved farther away from him, his face slowly changing from happy to furious. "What have I told you," he said, a false calm in his voice. "About talking back to me? What have I told you about walking away from me?" a blue glow surrounded his hand. "Look at me, Mabel!"

Shaking her head, Mabel turned on her heel and started running.

She ran out of the tent, dodged a bulky man wearing a blue security uniform, then forced herself to go faster when she saw the edge of the woods. Behind her, she could hear Gideon's voice shouting orders, and she didn't look back. 

When she reached where she thought the Mystery Shack should have been, her skirt held in her hands to keep it out of the way, she skidded to a halt. 

There was nothing there, only a scorched bit of land and a small headstone. It was a pathetic little thing, barely big enough for the name carved into it, but it read 'Stanford Pines'. Her Grunkle's house was gone as well, more burned earth with bits of twisted metal sticking out of it. Behind her, she could still hear Gideon's minions, and it took less than a second for her to decide.

Mabel leapt forward again, letting the edge of her skirt fall from her hands as she slid over the metal plate and down the hole that had once been an elevator.

"Oof!" she groaned when she landed, rubbing at her now-sore hip. 

Everything was dark, but there was a dim light even further down the shaft, a small burst of hope in her chest making it easier to breathe. Mabel paused for a moment, ripping her headband off and tossing it away in the darkness. "There we go." she muttered, edging closer to the hole in the ground and nodding before grabbing it and sliding down, feet dangling in the air for a moment before she swung to one side and landed again.

The light wavered, but stayed lit.

She crawled back over to the hole, leaning down and looking into the darkness. "Is anyone down here?" she called out, still somewhat quietly. 

Above her head, the light from the sky went dark as something was slid into place.

With a small sob, she dropped herself down the last hole, landing close to where the light was coming from. Standing up slowly, she looked around the disfigured lab that Stan had worked so many nights in, feeling a chill run up her spine when she noticed a rather large bloodstain on the wall. 

"You would come here?" came a voice from behind her. "Why would you come here?"

Turning around, Mabel frowned. "Who's there?"

The shadows shifted, a pair of eyes opening and glinting in the flicker of light from a candle practically melted into the console.

 

~

 

There was sand beneath his feet and a gentle breeze playing with the edges of his clothes, ruffling his hair as it passed.

Ford looked around, watching as the waves lapped at the shore. "Stanley?" he called out, frowning when he saw nothing but an empty beach. There wasn't a single sign of life anywhere around him.

Behind him sat a forlorn looking boat, abandoned and crusted over with barnacles and eroded by salt.

As he inched closer to it, something creaked ominously, sounding dangerously close to breaking. "Stan?" he called out again, kneeling next to the boat. There was writing on the side, and when he rubbed at the layer of grime with the cuff of his sleeve, it was revealed to be his brother's messy handwriting reading, 'Stan O' War'. 

Footsteps crunched through the sand behind him.

Turning around, he curled closer to himself, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. "...Stanley?" 

His twin stood on the shore, watching him with vacant eyes. "You chose this." he accused quietly, staring at something Ford couldn't see. There was a growing pool of blood around his feet and matching stains on the previously pristine shirt he wore. "You chose this over me." he waved a hand bonelessly around them and the beach melted away. The boat became a tree, the very one he had constructed to mark where his bunker was. "I gave up everything for you, made one mistake, and you chose this over me."

"Stanley, I didn't-" Ford's words sputtered out as soon as he tried to say them, throat closing up as warmth ran down his face. He tried to swallow, then shook his head when it didn't work. 

The hole in the ground, the compartment where he had hidden his journal, was open.

Stan stepped towards it, his leg dragging gracelessly behind him. "You can't even lie to me now, can you?" he asked, emotionless as he dropped down into the hole. He rested there for a moment, then leaned down and pulled something out. "I worked thirty years to bring you home after a mistake, and you can't even lie to me to save my feelings." 

He settled a headstone in the ground at the head of the hole, staring at it for a few minutes in silence. 

"Here lies Stanley Pines." he muttered, head turning a few degrees too far as he made eye contact with Ford. "It doesn't say anything else." he lowered himself completely into the hole, disappearing into it. 

"Stanley, no-" Ford's voice came back to him as he rushed forward, too slow to stop the compartment from closing again. Pounding a fist angrily against the metal, he lunged for the tree, only to find it gone. "STANLEY!"

Around him, the forest was silent.

 

~

 

"Ford?" Stan looked around, hand still curled around the shovel he had brought with him. "Kids?"

"I never actually did love you." came his brother's voice from right next to him.

When he turned to look, Ford met his eyes, eyebrows furrowed downwards and an angry frown on his face. He stood up straight, hands linked together behind his back and a weapon of some sort on his hip. They watched each other for a second, Ford's eyes dark with something that made Stan's heart stutter in his chest. "What?"

"You clung to me, you ruined everything I ever worked for." Ford said slowly, like he was speaking to a child. "You held me back, and when I didn't want to stay with you, you ruined my chances of ever leaving."

Stan stepped forward, hands raised. "Ford, I didn't- I never meant to..."

"Save your excuses for someone who'll listen." Ford turned away from him. "I'm not the only one whose life you ruined. What about the children? You've done plenty to damage them as well." he gestured to one side, still refusing to look at his brother. "You ruined everything about my life and then you moved on to destroy them. You do nothing but break everything you touch, and you have never been anything but an annoyance."

Off to the side were the younger twins.

Mabel was looking up at him with tearstained eyes, hands clasped together behind her neck. "Grunkle Stan, how could you?" she whispered, a heartbreaking sadness in her voice. Dipper wasn't even looking, an angry frown on his face that almost matched the one Ford wore. 

"Mom and Pop couldn't even pretend to like you long enough to let you become an adult." Ford continued, finally stepping closer. "They got rid of you. Mom may not have done the deed herself, but she stood by and watched as Pop banished you. Our lives were happier without you there, I finally got room to breathe and grow without you holding on so tight that you were choking me." he curled a hand in the lapel of Stan's shirt, dragging him close enough to force their lips together just once, nipping angrily at his bottom lip. "Did you honestly think that you could ever have a future with me?

"Did you honestly think you were anything other than a diversion and a distraction? An experiment that went on past it's prime." he sneered as he tossed Stan to the ground and moved over to the kids. Ford took the hand of each twin, then started walking away, leaving Stan sprawled in the dirt.

"You've never been as pathetic as you are right now." he called back over his shoulder, vanishing into the trees that seemed to swallow him.

 

~

 

The air around him felt stale as he tried to breathe, a hand clutching at his chest as he looked around wildly. "Dipper?" he called, his voice rising an octave as panic took over. "Mabel?"

Norman breathed heavily as he spun around, looking in every direction that he had last seen anyone. "Can anyone hear me?" he called out again, hands clenching into fists in his borrowed vest, the smooth fabric bunching up beneath his hands. "Either of the Stans?" he waited for a second, then cupped his hands around his mouth. "AGGIE!"

"Shhh, little Prenderghast." someone whispered, a ghostly hand settling over his mouth. "If he hears you, he'll come find you."  
Backing away slowly, Norman turned to see a boy that looked about his age, his clothing ragged and torn. "What?" he asked, voice quieter. "Where is everyone?"

"He trapped them in illusions," the boy's shoulder length hair moved like fire, his hands clenched together tightly. "If I don't explain to you, now, what is happening, they may die." his eyes were wide as he said this, turning to look from one side to another. "You might be doomed before all else, however."

"I don't care, I need to find them!" Norman hissed the words out, standing his ground as he watched the ghost. "They're my- I mean, I want them to be my friends."

The ghost nodded, a small smile on his lips. "And they already are, but you must heed my warning, else they'll be dragged to an early grave." he floated closer, extending a hand. "My name was Parrish Prenderghast. The one who has done this, who possessed you and nearly ended your friends' lives, his name is all but forgotten." he swallowed nervously. "The danger he poses is not."

"...Parrish Prenderghast?" 

"I was the great-nephew of Agatha." he whispered, ink-dark hair floating in front of his face. "My grandfather was her brother, and our portion of the family moved away. The man who possessed you," he shook his head when Norman tried to say something. "He was dead before I was, and I believe him to be the reason my death came about."

Norman watched as Parrish lit up from the inside for a second. "He killed you? That's-"

"He didn't kill me outright." Parrish was shaking now, trembling in fear. "He possessed me and dragged me off the very same cliff that he nearly dragged you down. My body wasn't found for a week, and by the time it was, there was very little of it left."

"How is he doing this?" Norman finally spoke up again. "Ghosts can't normally do these kinds of things to the living, not unless they're Mediums or Psychics or something."

Parrish sighed, a sad little sound as he met Norman's eyes. "But he can control other ghosts and their powers, if they have any. He prefers Prenderghasts, and he's angry that he cannot get Agatha to come anywhere near him. He wants to wield her powers, the lightning that flies from her fingertips and has ever since she was alive." 

"Aggie could talk to ghosts when she was alive, too." 

"I have heard, yes." 

"Then what does he want with me? It's not like I've got anything besides talking to the dead!"

A cold hand landed on Norman's cheek and sent a shiver running up his spine. "As the bloodline goes along, the powers go more and more dormant." Parrish explained. "It'll develop as you get older, and you'll be the safest of all of us. The dangerous one, he collects ghosts to use as weapons, and he intends to collect you. If you don't fight back, I fear that everyone you love is to be destroyed."

A bloodchilling howl echoed through the forest. "You need to wake up now, Norman! Your sister is coming, along with some help, and you need to wake the others and get them out of here!"

"Wait, Parrish, will you be there when I wake up? I want you to be okay!" Norman grabbed the ghost's hand as he turned to move away. "No, really, please come with me, I don't know what I'm doing and you need to get away from him!"

Parrish smiled, then pushed his other hand into Norman's face, sending him reeling backwards. "Go help your particular Pines." he whispered sadly. "He's going to need it, what with the one holding all of us here using my powers. I could change dreams, tell things to people when their minds were unprotected by their understanding of the world."

With a jolt, Norman woke up.

 

~

 

The clearing swam into focus, and when he tried to sit up, a surprise headache tried to knock him flat again, but Norman pushed through it and turned to look for the others.

Dipper was closest, sprawled out on his back with tears streaming down his face.

Norman crawled over to him, looking around to see if he could spot the ghost, then put a hand on his shoulder. "Dipper?" he asked quietly, shaking the other boy. "Dipper, I really need you to wake up right now."

"NORMAN!"

He looked around, spotting Courtney running through the trees. "Courtney, get down! I don't know if the ghost is still hanging around or not!"

Courtney stumbled through to him, then dropped the the ground on the other side of Dipper, followed by an unfamiliar redheaded woman carrying an axe. "Norman, I'm so glad you're okay!" she hissed, one hand wrapping around his wrist. "We totally need to get out of here, tell me what's happening."

"They're not awake because a ghost from at least three hundred years ago is controlling a ghost from less than that and using his powers." Norman whispered, still shaking Dipper's shoulder. "C'mon Dipper, gotta wake up."

The redhead dropped down beside them, stowing her axe away on her belt. "But is everyone okay?"

"I don't know, Dipper's how far I got from where I was lying unconscious on the ground." Norman waved a hand towards Mabel. "We need to stay low and make sure we don't make too much noise, but can you please help me try and wake them up?"

"Got it," she stayed crouched down, turning to move towards the others. "My name's Wendy by the way." With that she practically flew across the clearing to land near the Stans, waving Courtney towards the female Pines twin. "You get her, I'll probably be way more effective at getting these guys up."

Several minutes of trying produced no results, every second they spent there feeling more and more vulnerable.

"This isn't working!" Courtney hissed, a hand still on Mabel's shoulder. "Norman?"

"Parrish said that powers were dormant, like it's something that could possibly be woken up." he muttered, mostly to himself, looking between his hands and Dipper's face. "And he's a Prenderghast too, so maybe if I-" he pressed the palms of his hands against the other boy, one on his cheek and the other on his chest. With a silent almost-prayer, he pushed down, closing his eyes and focusing on the memory of how he had felt in the confrontation against Aggie.

Nothing happened.

Breathing through his nose, Norman grumbled, squeezing his eyes tighter and reaching for something deep inside of himself. A few crackles of electricity flashed around him, then raced down his arms and slipped across Dipper's skin, sending the other boy into a small but still full-bodied spasm.

His eyes opened and he sat upright so quickly that Norman couldn't lean back in time: the younger teen's forehead collided with Norman's nose, sending him reeling back and clutching at his face. "Ah!" he grabbed at his own face, looking around cautiously. "...Norman?"

"Yeah," Norman's voice was a little off, but he smiled. "I'm okay. You?"

Dipper didn't answer, one hand clutching at his chest as he tried to regulate his breathing. Leaning back in, Norman put his hand over his, smile gentling a little, like he was trying to coax a somewhat feral cat into trusting him. "Whatever he showed you, whatever you saw in your head, it isn't real. None of it was real, Dipper." he curled his fingers through Dipper's, clenching his hand protectively tight, caging the other below it. "Please trust me on this."

"I didn't exist." Dipper whispered, a haunted look in his eyes. "Mabel and our Grunkles wer-were happy without me, and I didn't exist. It didn't matter how much I screamed or shouted, they couldn't- wouldn't -hear me."

Norman pulled the other boy close, one hand curling around his head and tucking it safely into his neck for a moment. "It's not real, Mabel just isn't awake right now." he pulled back, readjusting Dipper's hat and smiling again. "I think I need to go wake her and the others up, just give me a few minutes and I can come back and sit down with you."

Nodding and trying to focus on his breathing, Dipper let him go, wrapping his uninjured hand around the cast on his wrist. 

"Aggie?" Norman whispered. "If there's any way you can hear me right now, thank you." he dropped to his knees next to Mabel, reaching for the feeling again. This time it was easier, more willing to be drawn out and made useful.

She sat up the same way her brother had, but this time Norman was able to dodge it, settling her next to her brother before heading towards the older set of Pines twins. Wendy stared up at him, her hazel eyes wide in an almost panic that he had seen several times before when he had first brought up seeing ghosts to his parents. "It's okay." he told her, reaching for both of the Stans at the same time. 

"Dude, trust me, I've seen weirder than this." she assured him, one hand going to her axe again now that she didn't need to try to wake them. "I had to fight a shapeshifter version of me."

"Shapeshifters exist?"

"Oh man, yeah they do. Ask Dipper about it, that was a weird ass day." 

Ford sat bolt upright in much the same way his niblings had, practically rolling off to one side in reaction to a possible threat before he settled and actually looked around. Stan's eyes opened slowly, but he didn't sit up, one hand clenching the underbrush and dirt beneath him. 

Seeing that he was awake, Norman jerked his head in the direction of the other twins. "We should get over there."

"Yeah." Wendy stood up first, offering him a hand.

As they trudged back over to Dipper and Mabel, Ford and Stan attached themselves together, as if drawn by magnets. Looking back, Norman watched for a second as they pressed their foreheads together, Ford's hands buried in Stan's hair and Stan's arms wrapped around his brother's waist. Nothing of what they were doing was worse than what he had seen in some movies, barely even PG, but he still blushed and looked away.

Mabel's face was pressed against her brother's shoulder, her hands curled inside the cuffs of her sleeves. "Can we go home?" she whispered, lower lip trembling. "I want to go home."

"I think we can," Dipper whispered back, raising a hand to the back of her head and holding her close. "I think it's probably a really good idea. Nothing about being out here sounds good anymore." he looked up at Norman, a tense smile on his face. "What's happening?"

"There's a ghost named Parrish," he sat down slowly, watching as his own sister edged closer, one protective, sharp-nailed hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "Parrish Prenderghast. He's kind of related to us, and he told me a little bit about the guy who possessed me yesterday. The guy is so old that he doesn't really have a name anymore, and he collects other ghosts, uses their powers to gather more together." Norman leaned in, clasping his hand around Dipper's cast. "We need to get out of this area of the woods and back to the house. Do you feel up to walking?"

Dipper groaned quietly, moving his legs before frowning. "I'm really not sure."

"I know I can carry one of you if I need to." Wendy volunteered. "If I push myself, I could probably carry both. Mostly I'm just glad that Courtney crossed my path when she did: ten seconds later and I would have been off the property and heading home again." she smiled, crouching down to ruffle Mabel's hair and flick the edge of Dipper's hat. "Pacifica's waiting at the house, by the way. On my way out of there, I talked to two blondes and neither of them were really happy about not knowing where you guys were."

"Can you carry Mabel?" Dipper asked her.

"Totally." Wendy leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the younger girl and sliding her onto her back. "C'mon Mabel, act like a baby koala. You know you can look cute enough to be one, so now you can act like it."

The girl actually let out a giggle at that, tightening her grip around Wendy's shoulders. "Thank you Wendy..."

Norman watched them for a second, then stood up and helped Dipper to his feet, settling one of the younger boy's arms over his shoulder. "Let's try it this way, alright? If it doesn't work, I can try carrying you."

Ford and Stan shuffled closer, leaning heavily on each other as Stan's fist was clenched, white knuckled, in the fabric of Ford's shirt. "A strategic retreat might be a wise idea." Ford muttered, bleary eyes full of fear focusing on his niece and nephew. "Is everyone alright?" he grunted quietly as Stan readjusted, curling his arm tighter around his brother's waist. "Wendy, Miss Babcock, wonderful to see you. We need to go."

"We're going, Grunkle Ford." Mabel muttered, her voice soft as she seemed to fall asleep on Wendy's back. 

As the group of them made their way back to the house, the woods they were leaving behind seemed somehow more sinister than they had on the way in, the lessening amount of sunlight making each shadow into a grasping hand.

 

XxXxX

 

"The thing I don't understand," Ford said when they were settled back in the house, his head resting on Stan's chest as they curled up on the couch, the kids on the floor around them. "Is why we were able to get out without incident. It seemed like he wasn't going to let that happen." He looked at the group, eyes lingering on Pacifica, the blonde girl's head resting in Mabel's lap, one of her hands clutched in the fabric of her pajamas.

Courtney, brushing her hair thoroughly to remove every last leaf, flushed in embarrassment. "Well..." she began, her arms going limp to rest in her lap. "I might have, like, done something?"

The younger teens, dressed in pajamas and buried beneath blankets, all turned to look at her. 

"What." Norman blinked once, then twice, looking at his sister in disbelief. 

"It's really hard to tell, and it might not have been me!" Courtney defended, shrugging as she looked around the room to see every pair of eyes on her. "I was kind of worried about Norman and the rest of you guys, and Pacifica seemed worried when we set out from the house so I needed to go find you and bring you back, and Wendy wasn't doing too hot with the not-worrying either," she paused and flashed an apologetic smile at the other girl. "Sorry."

"S'okay, it's the truth." Wendy grinned at her, hugging a pillow closer to her chest. "Go on."

"Anyways." Courtney reached behind her head, twisting her hair into a quick braid and tying it off. "We got into the woods and started trying to find you guys, and somehow I knew which way we were supposed to go. It was kind of like I had GPS in my head, I guess?" she shrugged again. "And then we were, like, literally right outside the clearing you guys were in and this guy showed up. Black eyes, a horror show of bad outfit and hairstyle choices, and I thought he might have been the one ghost that took over Norman. He didn't look like he was alive, and I think it might have mostly been the eyes...

"But I kind of, I dunno, got rid of him somehow?" her face screwed up as she thought about it, Courtney turned to Wendy. "I black out for a few moments, and when I came back, he was just sort of gone."

Wendy laughed. "That's one way of putting it. She literally raged out on him." 

"What do you mean?" Ford looked between the two. 

"Dude, she put her hand on his chest and started pushing him back. Her eyes kind of went dark green and she might've been chanting something? It was pretty intense. When she was done, he just kind of disappeared, it was awesome." Wendy held out a curled up fist towards the pink-wearing girl. "Don't leave me hanging here."

Hesitantly, Courtney brushed their knuckles together. 

"Wait." Norman put a hand to his forehead. "You- Courtney, you have powers like I do?"

"...I guess so?" her forehead wrinkled as she thought about it. "I didn't even think about it, all I really knew was that you guys needed help, and if I didn't do something, he was gonna hurt you. I couldn't let my little brother get hurt like he was planning on. I do actually need to go home with you, mom and dad would kill me if I let you get killed."

Norman curled in on himself as he giggled. "That's true."

Courtney reached out and ruffled his hair, smiling when it popped back into place the moment her hand was removed. "Besides, no one messes with my little brother but me."

The room fell into silence for a minute.

"Also, is the black haired girl Aggie? I keep seeing her at the edges of my sight, but the moment I turn to look at her, she vanishes." 

"If she has a black dress on, then yeah, it's Aggie." Norman frowned, looking at Ford before turning back to his sister. "You can see her now?"

Ford groaned, covering his face with both hands and pushing his glasses up and out of the way. "I should have realized that something might happen with her as well. I am assuming that you two are fully blood related, not half siblings, yes?" he waited until they confirmed it, then groaned again. "Which means she's as much of a Prenderghast as you are, Norman."

"Speaking of our family," Norman swallowed nervously, then nodded as he continued. "The weird dream thing I got thrown into was with a ghost named Parrish Prenderghast, and he told me a bit about the ghost that was trying to hurt us." he rubbed the palms of his hands together. "He also said that sometimes the powers associated with our family go dormant in an attempt to keep us safe, which might be what's happening to my sister."

Rolling her eyes, Courtney grumbled. "I guess you're not the only freak now."

"I don't think it's even just us, remember what mom is like sometimes?" he shrugged, then turned to look over his shoulder. "Hi Aggie."

Mabel sat upright, dislodging Pacifica and making the girl scowl, her eyes wide as she stared at the same spot. "Oh, so you're Aggie?" she nudged her brother's shoulder. "Dipper, look!" she pointed towards the newly arrived ghost and grinned. "Look!"

"Mabel, it's not nice to point at people." Dipper said reflexively, his eyes wide as he sat up too. 

"Interesting." Aggie tilted her head to one side, staring back at them. "You can see me now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry this took a while to get up, I've been in a bit of a slump lately.
> 
> Tell me what you thought?


	6. Heal All Our Hurts

The entire collection of people who could see her stared, almost unblinking, at the ghost of Agatha Prenderghast.

Ford cleared his throat, mouthed a few syllables, cleared his throat again and finally managed, "This is very strange." He turned to look at his brother instead, their hands finding each other and holding tightly as they exchanged a glance before going back to looking at the ghost in front of them. For a second, Stan's eyes flicked down to look at the kids on the floor below them before he checked out the window.

"We gonna be safe if she's here?" he asked, worry changing his gruff tone. "I know you said she's been around for a long time, but there's no way to know if she's gonna get grabbed by the other guy." 

"We should be okay," Norman tried to reassure them, looking up at Aggie, a small smile on his face. "Right?"

It fell away when she shook her head. "I am not sure that is true," she whispered. Her small, pale hands were clutching her dress tightly. "There is so much going on, and I-" she cut off with a small whimper as her eyes darted towards the window. "He wants to keep all of us, our family is important to him and I do not know why!" she hissed out, her entire body curled up as a couple of lightbulbs popped in the socket.   
Norman jolted upright, teetering on his feet for a few seconds before holding out a hand. "Aggie, it's okay, you're okay!"

"No!"

Mabel's eyes went wide as her hair stood on end, her sweater sticking to her weirdly. "Um, Dipper?" she turned to her brother. Her braces were making a noise like a small electric fence.

"Hey, uh, ghost girl?" Dipper stood up slowly, careful not to lean any weight on his broken arm. "My sister kind of has metal in her mouth, and you're creating a lot of electricity. D'you think you could-" he swallowed when her eyes landed on him, the whites turning a dangerous yellow color. "If you could stop and calm down for a second, that would probably be a lot better. If you keep going, it's gonna hurt her, and I don't think any of us want that to happen."

Aggie seemed to grow in size for a second before she looked down at the teenagers. "I'm-" she focused on Mabel, then closed her eyes and landed back on the ground, her feet planting as firmly as they could. "I'm sorry."

Working her jaw and running her tongue over her teeth, Mabel laughed. "It's okay! I'm fine now, see?"

Pacifica reared up and latched a hand around Mabel's shoulders, dragging the other down and closer. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, but I just saw sparks on my best friend's braces. Anyone wanna explain? I really don't like ghosts, the last one I had to deal with tried to kill me and I don't want to repeat that experience." she looked at Wendy and Courtney. "Am I the only one who can't see what's going on?"

"I can't either, it's okay," Wendy muttered.

"Good, at least I'm not alone in being left out," Pacifica grumbled as she tugged gently on Mabel's hair. "Can I talk to you upstairs?"

"Yeah, just give me a second." Mabel turned to look at her brother. "Be nice, Dipper," she grinned at him, then took Pacifica's hand in her own and started speeding for the stairs, partially dragging the blonde girl until she managed to get her feet under her.

Watching them leave, Aggie frowned. 

"Don't worry, it's not your fault," Dipper reassured her, then paused. "If that's what you're worried about. There was a ghost that haunted her mansion when she was younger, and I had to get it out of there. It tried to kill everyone in the place, including me and her." he turned to look at the Stans. "...Did you know about that one?"

"I heard that you went to Northwest's crappy place," Stan said, shoulders tensed as he looked back at his nephew. "I didn't hear about a ghost that tried to kill you."

"That's more than I heard." Ford levered himself up and off of Stan's chest. "Category ten?"

"Yeah. He was the ghost of a lumberjack that a past Northwest had lied to." Dipper grinned sheepishly as he pointed to his own head. "His axe was what killed him. It slipped away from him when a mudslide happened and it landed on his head."

Norman looked at the three Pines, eyes wide. "How long have you been involved in this sort of thing?"

"Since I was twelve and found Grunkle Ford's journal."

Stan's arm tightened around his brother. "We don't talk about why, but I spent thirty years reading over everything he wrote in his journals and notes."

Plopping back down to his previous position and curling even closer, Ford shrugged. "It feels like forever now, but it's from when I was a child, even younger than Dipper was when he discovered my journals. I've always had an interest in the paranormal and the supernatural."

"You've been connected to this world since you were small," Aggie whispered, her eyes unfocused as she stared somewhere over Norman's shoulder. Her feet were floating off the ground again, her hands folded around each other and strangely white-knuckled. "There were children when you were young, children that nobody else could see or hear. Your brother saw them sometimes, but not always."

"...That's right." Ford looked up at her, a worried look on his face. "How did you-"

"They're still there sometimes, still running around in the corner of your sight. You have Sight," she seemed to take a deep breath, a cold sensation filling the room. "I think you both do. Twins always seem to have it, even when you look at the ones who were never exposed to the abnormal world."

Wendy frowned, prodding Courtney's shoulder. "What's happening?" she whispered, a red eyebrow raised. 

"Aggie's talking about twins and weird things," Courtney muttered back, leaning back on her heels. "I guess twins are weird things at heart or something? It sounds like that's what she's saying."

"Cool." Wendy nodded, making a vaguely impressed face. "I was wondering if Dipper and Mabel were always like that."

"Like what?"

"Well, every time they come here, every day is spent in this weird flurry of activity and strange stuff," she grinned at the other, her eyes narrowing with the expression, small half moons of glittering blue. "Dipper told me about a possible zombie who I think was actually..." she turned to look at the younger teen. "What was he again? A bunch of fairies or something?"

"That was the other Norman, and he was a group of gnomes pretending to be a teenager so that he could get to know Mabel and marry her," Dipper grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "When we were twelve."

"And there were the actual zombies, which, dude, those were terrifying." Wendy rubbed at her elbow. "I ran away from those things."

"Mindless brain eaters who tried to kill my niece and nephew and almost succeeded in keeping my handyman," Stan grumbled. "And then we had to sing. You don't want to hear this voice singing, but I think we did pretty good," he smiled at Dipper. "We made their stupid heads explode."

Dipper smiled back, then turned to Norman. "I think the zombies you had to deal with were meant to be more intelligent or something."

"It was supposed to be a punishment," Aggie whispered. "They needed to be aware of what they had done to me and who they still were, even with their bodies molding and rotting away, leaving bare bones behind. I kept them mostly in one piece so that they could still have something to lose when I brought them from their graves."

"...Okay, kid, you're just a little creepy." Stan made a face, then looked down to Ford. "Hey, Sixer, if you're gonna sleep, you should go to bed."  
Ford's hands tightened immediately into the fabric of Stan's shirt. "No, I'm fine here."

"Want me to go with you?" Stan asked quietly.

He got a nod in response and pushed his brother off his lap, just far enough back that he could sit up too, then stood and held out a hand. Ford took it quietly and the both of them wandered off, towards another part of the house.

"Yo, Dipper, what're the plans for tonight?" Wendy asked, breaking the silence that followed. "'Cause I got a couple of movies with me if you want me to bring 'em in. I bought them today, was planning on watching them anyways. I figure you guys could use a little bit of distraction after what happened."

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, that'd be cool."

Clearing his throat, Norman raised his hand slightly. "As long as there's nothing about ghost possession in them. I don't think that would be a good thing to watch right now."

"Oh, hell no." Wendy shook her head, negating it twice. "I've got a vamp flick, an alien flick, and something about..." her face scrunched up as she thought about it. "A mirror? No, wait, not that one. It's about ghosts and memories and it's a little too close to home right now."

"Well, I've got pajamas and I think I packed a couple of bags of snacks?" Courtney frowned. "Unless those were in mom and dad's bags."

"If I remember right, they didn't have room for them, so they made us pack them in our stuff," Norman confirmed. He looked at Dipper. "I think we have popcorn, but if we don't, is there a place nearby to get some?"

"We have some." Dipper's cheeks flushed a little, his uninjured hand tucking into his pocket as he tried to stay focused on Norman's face while he talked to him. "It'll be fine if we pop a few bags of it, the Grunkles like to make sure we have things we can easily make if they're not here for any reason. I think Soos might actually be the reason we have some of it, though, Stan and Ford aren't always the most..." he frowned as he tried to think of a word to describe it.

"Got it." Norman played with a couple of strands of hair that were hanging into his eyes. 

Wendy stood, then helped Courtney up. "I'm gonna bike home real quick, grab some pajamas. Is that okay?"

"I think so, yeah." Dipper turned to look at her. "I don't know what they'd say about more people in the house, but right now I really don't want to be alone and I don't want to leave anyone I care about alone either."

"In the interest of not going anywhere alone, how far away do you live?" Courtney turned to look at Wendy, her eyebrows raised. "Because after what I saw earlier, I really don't want anyone alone either. If we can keep up groups of two or more during this, that'd probably be the best thing."

"It's about a fifteen-minute walk, so really not that far." Wendy shrugged. "I also have a spare helmet and a place for someone to sit on the back of my bike, so it'd be less than that if you're okay riding shotgun on a twelve-speed."

Courtney shrugged back. "As long as you're not left alone to whatever might happen."

The two of them walked out of the room together, leaving Dipper and Norman alone. The boys stared at each other for a second, then headed for different things at once. "I'm just gonna go get changed," Dipper excused himself. "The bathroom is down the hall and around the corner, you'll find it easily enough if you need it."

"Thanks." Norman watched him walk up the stairs, cheeks pink as he sighed.

"I don't know why you decided to just tell him about the ghost over his shoulder." Aggie landed, one hand reaching out to pat lovingly at Norman's shoulder. "You think he's cute."

"Shhh," Norman whispered back, turning to look at her. "He can hear and see you now, don't say things like that out loud." he grabbed his pajamas from his bag and headed down the hall to the bathroom. "If he finds out, I don't know how he'd react to it and he's actually pretty cool."

Aggie smiled as she followed behind him. "If that is what you want to think."

 

XxXxX

 

The two girls sat on Mabel's bed, both of them looking down at their feet as they pressed against each other. "Mabel?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think everything's going to be okay?" Pacifica glanced down at where her left hand was only a few inches from Mabel's right. Scooting it closer, until the tips of her fingers were brushing Mabel's, she smiled down at it. "You guys were passed out on the ground in the woods. That doesn't say anything good to me."

Mabel sighed, a small smile turning her lips up at the corners. "We're gonna be fine, Pacifica." she leaned in, nuzzling her nose into the girl's jaw. 

"I just feel like the world is going crazy or something..." Pacifica groaned, leaning into Mabel's side, curling their hands together. "There's a ghost and you can see her now and I can't and at least I was able to see the one in my house and- Uh!"

Pulling back from her, Mabel grinned, tugging gently at her hand, almost admiring the small traces of lip balm she had left behind on Pacifica's cheek. "It'll be okay, Pacifica. We're gonna be fine. Besides, we've got my Grunkles, and we've got Dipper, and this Norman seems a lot better than the first one we ever met. I think we're gonna be okay, therefore, we'll be awesome!" she laughed. "And I'm always right about that!"

Pacifica laughed, her free hand coming up to cover the spot Mabel had kissed. "...Thank you," she whispered, a small smile on her face.   
The brunette pulled the blonde's legs over her lap, tugging her into a warm hug. "That's kind of why I'm here with you right now," she explained, rubbing gently at the other girl's spine. "You were sort of panicking, so I figured I had to do something kind of shocking to snap you out of it." she paused, meeting Pacifica's eyes. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, it worked, you goof." 

 

XxXxX

 

Ford dropped onto the bed with a quiet groan, covering his eyes with one hand as he dragged one foot up onto the blankets.

"Hey," 

Looking over, he frowned when he saw Stan standing next to the bed, an unreadable expression on his face. "Yes?" his voice was strangled, the word an inch from making him cry. When he didn't say anything, Ford levered himself into an upright position again. "Stan?"

Stan shook his head, crawling into the bed next to him and wrapped an arm around his chest. With his body heat, Ford felt almost too warm, but also far more comfortable. "Stan, is everything alright?" he swallowed nervously. "Stan, you need to talk to me, I don't-"

"I don't..." Stan's words finally cracked through the air at the same time as his brother spoke. His entire body shuddered, his fingers going tight in the fabric of Ford's shirt. "Am I still useless?" he pressed his face into Ford's shoulder, his throat tight as he swallowed. "The stuff that guy showed me, I didn't- You-" he trembled, hot tears soaking through Ford's shirt as he lapsed back into silence. 

"...Stanley Pines, you look at me right this moment." Ford said almost jokingly, curling his hands around Stan's arm. When he met his brother's eyes, he nodded once, firmly. "You are not and have never been useless." 

He pulled a hand free, laying it on Stan's cheek. "You learned physics and sciences you never wanted to touch when we were in school together. If they'd been able to adjust the learning style for you, then you probably would have been offered the scholarships I had as well. You are brilliant, and you managed to bring me back singlehandedly." he chuckled. "You dealt with two curious pre-teens at the same time, taking care of them and sheltering them in ways not many could have.  
"As for whatever it was you were shown..." he shook his head, nudging his forehead against Stan's. "It doesn't matter. I did stupid things when we were younger, and I continued to do them. You are the only person I have ever actually loved." 

"Sixer, that ain't what I asked." 

"I admit I don't quite know how to answer it. Saying you're useful sounds...Degrading in a way I can't make myself think about you." Ford sighed. "Your worth, to me, is more than any sort of scientific achievement I could come up with. You're a marvel to me, and I don't know how I managed to make it all those years without you." he curled his fingers, tapped his knuckles against Stan's cheek. "If what you saw says you're worthless and you believe it, should I believe what I saw that says you're still angry at and hate me?"

"NO!" Stan's voice was a grumbled roar, a roll of thunder before the lightning hit. "I ought'a punch that prick's face in for making you think that!"

Ford snorted with laughter, getting tugged after Stan when he tried to stand and go back into the woods to find the ghost again. "Then why would you believe him when he says anything about your worth to me?"

Stan went still, caught on the edge of the bed with Ford splayed across his lap. "...You really want me here?"

"Stanley," Ford spread a hand and gestured out the window. "We're sitting in the building that is a lived-in monument to how much I want you here." he reached down and patted the bed. "You sleep here every night we're on land, right next to me. Your name is on the landowner's deed. Your clothes are in the same closet as mine, and sometimes we end up wearing each other's clothing because we're tired in the morning because you stayed up late. I am tired in the mornings because I decided to stay up late with you to watch your face light up when you watch your, forgive me, godawful romance soap operas."

"Hey, the Duchess needs a special sort of attention paid to her storylines," Stan pouted, shifting slightly as his cheeks turned red. "Not my fault that Lord Jackass gave her and his chance at her up a long time ago but came back as some weird....Look, the point is, it's a complicated story, alright?"

"And I would not trade watching you watch it for anything in this world or the next," Ford smiled again.

Stan's face flushed a deeper shade of red, his eyes pinned to the floor. 

"Stan, look at me."

Reluctantly he looked up. 

"If I didn't want you here, you'd know." Ford pressed their foreheads together. "And it almost makes my heart...I don't want to say break because that is physically impossible, but on the other hand, it's the best word. It's heartbreaking to know you still think so little of yourself."

He paused, then nudged his nose against Stan's. "And I will spend the rest of our lives making you understand how much you mean to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so please don't hate me for being gone so long.  
> In the time between this chapter and the last I got bogged down by school assignments and I have this kind of blinding urge to not fail my classes. As a result, all of my writing got put on hold while I tried to summon enough willpower to write something - Anything, really. I fell into other fandoms as well, so if you're into Outlast and Undertale maybe go read those?
> 
> Anyways.   
> As always, tell me what you think in the comments down below.

**Author's Note:**

> This is cross posted from my Tumblr :D.
> 
> If it's not LookUponMyWorksYeMighty or Krasimer, it ain't me.


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